On Peace

I now understand

the meaning of peace.

There is no true peace

unless it first abides within the soul.

Oftentimes we persuade ourselves that we are calm

when we open our hearts unto another;

yet if the place be not safe,

the body grows guarded,

hope awakens silently,

and expectation takes its seat.

When such hope is unmet,

sorrow or anger soon follows.

This calm was not peace.

It was but the trembling of the heart,

longing to be understood.

Peace is of a deeper kind.

It endures even in misunderstanding,

even when nothing is returned.

Peace must first be made within;

for me, this is peace with God.

From this peace flows compassion,

first toward oneself,

then toward others;

and from compassion, joy is born

quietly, faithfully, from within.

True peace fashions a safe dwelling

a place where one may be vulnerable

without fear, without judgment.

Not because one expects to receive,

but because one already rests in fullness.

When peace dwells within each soul,

two may lean upon one another

not from want nor from dread,

but from love freely chosen,

from trust willingly given. 

I once believed I had attained such peace;

yet being human,

I confess that at times

I still seek without

what must be returned to within.

Peace is not a thing to be performed,

nor a posture to be displayed.

It is a place to which the soul must return.

And when God is set at the center,

we no longer demand of others

to fill that sacred space

which only He may fill.