What does it mean to be at peace?

Where to begin?  I think with personal peace.  For me, when I can come to a place of peace within myself, I find that I can carry that peace with me and share it, even radiate it to other people. 

Finding my way to peace is not something that just happened one day.  It has been many years of learning, and constant practice, both of which continue every day.  Part of this comes from the practice of my Quaker faith which, I believe, is an immersive faith.  While Quakers have no creed there are understandings among us that we agree to try to practice in our lives.  First is that we believe that there is that of God, of Spirit, in every human and that we look for that spark in everyone before anything else.  This is the place where we are truly all equals.  Then there are the testimonies.  Our testimonies suggest to us ways in which we may deepen our lives and understanding in the Spirit.  We are called to live into the testimonies so that we can testify to how each one, and all of them together, inform our lives.  There are five broad categories: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality.  For me, each one of the testimonies calls me to deeply reflect on my life and works.  What have I done to simplify my life and possessions?  What am I doing to find peace in myself and in the world?  Am I living from a place of integrity, of honesty?  What am I doing to help strengthen and feed my community?  Am I treating everyone the same?   All of these things work to create one cohesive way of being in the world.  They create the immersive faith that I believe creates the Quaker way of being in the world.  Being a Quaker and working to follow the Quaker way of life was an early opening  for me in finding my way to peace.

The meeting for worship that I attend is an unprogrammed meeting - that is to say that there is no priest, no formal prayer or particular format.  We come together on a Sunday morning to sit in silence.  Within the silence, we individually invite God/Spirit to be with us and to speak to us directly.  When we are clear that we have received such a message we rise and share it with those present.  This kind of worship calls us to be prepared for an encounter with Spirit.  For me, it requires a daily practice of  sitting in silence and waiting on Spirit.  It means opening myself to different ways of hearing and learning which I do through many different kinds of spiritual reading.

Over time, all of these practices create a calmness, an openness, a love that moves within and beyond myself.  It creates a deep quiet well within that I can go to when I need to recharge and that I can draw upon when I am called on to bring God's peace into the world.

 My constant prayer came to me from Spirit as I sat in silent worship:

Let my words be thy words

Let my will be thy will

Help me to be your Peace. 

May we all know that place of Peace.