A Place for Peace to Enter

Three months ago, I wouldn’t have expected to be writing this today as an end to my hiatus from sharing my thoughts with you. One month ago, I made a different start than what you will read here, but before it could be posted, 17 students and teachers were shot to death by a confused and angry/in pain/lost young man with an AR-15. And the world stopped again, as it has before. And we were all in shock—again. Horrified that this was happening—again. Saddened about the tremendous losses. Afraid about the future. We had barely time to process all of those responses before the arguing and excuses and confrontations and twisting truths and anger began. And the world, bent and bleeding said, “No. Please. Not this again. Can’t we please get along, find solutions, leave behind our differences to make a difference? Can’t we please?”

I personally do not pretend to have the answers to horror and anguish and rage in all of their myriad complications, except the same answer that keeps showing up for me to see and hear and feel. This is what I am here to tell you about today.

The most recent reminder is this prayer that was forwarded to me in an e-mail from a friend. The prayer is said to be written by a Buddhist monk who lived around 700 AD. It is also said that the Dalai Lama recites this prayer every morning as part of his ritual. To experience this fully as you read, you might like to slow your breath and lean into these words as you go along.

Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity

May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened.

Having read and been touched by that Buddhist prayer, I thought of this next prayer and how similar the two are. This one has been familiar to me and sits framed on my desk in my office. It is the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian monk who lived from 1182-1226. From different beliefs and several centuries apart, both of these men were carrying the same earnest message. Again, if you wish, take the opportunity to slow your breath and allow this prayer to breathe with you.

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

Finally one more message came to me as I was excavating piles of paper from my writing room. This quote is from a young woman of 20th century Europe, Etty Hillesum, born in 1914 and died at Auschwitz before her 30th birthday .

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.

So, the Buddhist monk from over a thousand years ago, a Catholic priest from around 800 years ago, and a young Jewish woman in a concentration camp during WW II, are all giving us the same message for today: our real power comes from the inside. We can march and protest and write letters and organize.These are good. Important. Vitally necessary. And the action we take with a loving, peaceful heart will make the difference we are wanting to make. This is not a trite, oversimplification of what needs to done, but the truth for a difficult and important practice that we must commit to over and over and over again. May we indeed be a lamp in the darkness; may we learn to love where we find hate; may we rededicate how we live to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves. Then in that place, let us tackle what we see that needs to be done outside of ourselves. Take action, remembering to keep our eyes and hearts connected on the deeper desire: peace in our troubled world.

As you are here, still with me, now, if you are drawn to do so, read each of these inspirations again. For each one as you finish reading, close your eyes for a moment to take a deep breath, or maybe two, slowly inhaling and slowly exhaling. Pay attention to your breath; focus on your heart; allow a place for peace to enter.

Lastly, to finish here for now, I have a song to share. As you listen, no matter your personal belief, may you experience your own connection with peace and possibility. Amen, my dear friends. I am enriched from this time with you. As always I send you love and wish you well…

The Prayer

[Celine Dion:] I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way

Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe

[Andrea Bocelli (Celine Dion):] La luce che tu hai
(I pray we’ll find your light)
Nel cuore resterà
(And hold it in our hearts)
A ricordarci che
(When stars go out each night)
Eterna stella sei
(Whoa)
Nella mia preghiera
(Let this be our prayer)
Quanta fede c’è
(When shadows fill our day)

Lead us to a place
(Guide us with your grace)
[Both:] Give us faith so we’ll be safe

Sogniamo un mondo senza più violenza
Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza
Ognuno dia la mano al suo vicino
Simbolo di pace, di fraternità

[Andrea Bocelli (Celine Dion):] La forza che ci dà
(We ask that life be kind)
È il desiderio che
(And watch us from above)
Ognuno trovi amor
(We hope each soul will find)
Intorno e dentro sé
(Another soul to love)

[Both:] Let this be our prayer
[Celine Dion:] Let this be our prayer
[Andrea Bocelli:] Just like every child
[Celine Dion:] Just like every child

[Both:] Need to find a place
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe

È la fede che
Hai acceso in noi
Sento che ci salvera

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