Category: peace

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in kindness, love, peace

April 7 2025

Psalm 85 Verses 8-9

8 I will listen to what God the Lord says;
    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
    but let them not turn to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

With the world in such a mess I wish everyone would hear words of peace, We must make God very sad with all the violence and hatred that goes on in the world. Some of the worst of it hatred against people of different faiths.

The Hebrew word Shalom means fullness, having everything everything you need to be happy and fulfilled. Frederick Buechner says that “for Jesus peace seem to have meant not the absence of struggle but the presence of love.”

Prayer: Lord God of peace, let us grow in love toward you and our neighbor until wars, hatred and violence cease and shalom reigns. Support us with your Holy Spirit and surround us with your love, now and forever. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in answers, peace, prayer

March 31 2025

Psalm 69 Verses 1-3

1 Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths,
    where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.
3 I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
    looking for my God.

There are times when everything seems to be going wrong. Nothing you try works. Things just keep going wrong. You pray and nothing changes. God doesn’t seem to hear.You pray some more….and still nothing. You have begged God for some help and no help is in view. It seems that God has deserted you.

God is there. Your cry has been heard. God is answering. The answer may not be the one we want. But God hears and acknowledges our prayer. Things will change for God loves us and knows what we need before we ask. Rest in that promise.

Prayer: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” You seem to have deserted me. I feel so alone. Help me Lord to know that you are near. Calm my fears. Bring me your peace. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in chaos, overwork, peace

March 30 2025

Psalm 55 verses 6-8


6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;[c]
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
    far from the tempest and storm.”

Do things get so bad that you feel like running away from home? I know that happens to me. Our problems just pile up and pile up and suddenly it is more than we can manage. We have so many people depending on so It’s not so easy to stop the world and get off. Our lives are surrounded by details and the sheer volume of them can bury us.

I love what the Psalmist says.” If only I (could) flee away to my place of shelter.”

The sad part is that we probably could take some down time if we would allow ourselves. We just don’t do it. We feel guilty if we do …and yet we could function better if we did.

Prayer: God of peace, show us how to take time away from the details of our lives. Take awa y the feelings o guilt and help us to spend time away from the everyday chaos and seek peace in your presence, AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in accountable, choices, peace, peacemakers

March 19 2025

Psalm 33 Verse 12

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.

These are tough time for our nation. We know that leaders don’t work from the purest of motives. Everyone seems to have an agenda. We all think we now the best thing for everyone. Yet I doubt that ay of us would make al the right choices. After all the only way that is perfect is God’s way. Even those who say that they are speaking God’s will aren’t “pure in heart.”

So what do we do? Only what we can. Each day, in each situation we try our best to follow the example given to us by the life of Jesus. Even in politics…especially in politics.

Prayer: Lord, keep our nation in your care. Guide our leaders to make right decisions. Encourage us to speak out against wrongful actions and harmful choices. Show us your way to pring peace to the world. Each of us is but one but one voice is better than none.

Where will it end?

by worrylessjourney, posted in frustration, peace, violence

Recently I have talked to a number of people who are feeling what I am feeling. It’s been too long. Someone mentioned yesterday that we have been under restriction for eight months. No wonder it seems so long. We are all just ready for this to end but it won’t yet.

In my area the numbers are decreasing and I hope in other areas as well. The riots and anger are not helping. I think the stress of the pandemic is fueling some of it. People are just frustrated.

Does anyone recognize our life now? There is violence and killing in cities that have never had that before. Those of us at risk for the virus are trapped avoiding exposure. Schools can’t decide what is best to do. Businesses are going under and people are out of work. This doesn’t sound like my world.

There were riots during the Viet Nam era. There were “demonstrations” during the civil rights era (God bless MLK) but nothing like this. Understanding what has caused all this unrest is complex. The feud between the police and BLM is almost like the Hatfields and the McCoys (if anyone remembers what that was). Logic has been left behind and only anger and hatred remain.

I wonder if anyone thinks any good will come of all of this? Does violence change things more than non-violent demonstrations? I’m not sure it does. I think that the crusades of MLK and Gandhi are remembered more. Will that be the case in the future? Will this nation withstand this or will it fall?

Have they disappeared?

From my history background I remember a historian named Arnold Toynbee who said that when the moral fiber of a nation declines the nation falls. We are certainly there. What is to come?

Epiphany

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, Live!, peace

I have had an epiphany (a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. ) I don’t really know why but something has shifted in my thinking. I suppose it is that we have been living this careful, isolated and distanced life for long enough that it now feels different.

I still want it to be changed but I have accepted what is and have settled into it. Unlike some people this acceptance will not change what I am doing but is a mental shift that will make this way of life more acceptable. Change has happened in me. Certainly nothing around me has changed and probably won’t for quite a while. We are still at risk and there remains some anxiety over the potential for a severe illness but that has settled into just living it.

I have found an odd and strange peace. I still can’t wait to have some other form of living back but for now I will be living.

Will we learn?

by worrylessjourney, posted in accountable, commitment, consequences, decisions, divided world, peace

I heard this song just the other day. It brought back so many memories. I love folk songs and the stories they tell. I was lucky that the era when they were so popular was during my college years.

This song was written by Pete Seeger who was a long time activist. It reminds us that we are the ones who cause wars. His question always gets to me: “When will they ever learn?”

We haven’t learned yet. Is there any chance that we will learn?

Make it so

by worrylessjourney, posted in calm, choices, compassion, empathy, expectations, hope, peace

I love the church season of Advent. Not because of all the hoopla leading up to Christmas. Advent doesn’t feel red and green like Christmas. For me it feels blue. A beautiful, peaceful, serene blue. I imagine pictures with stars and the stable with the infant Jesus. I see calm and deep peace. I love listening to Christmas music and singing along. I suppose because the music plays at this time instead of the weeks of Christmas leading to Epiphany.

advent8

Advent is a time for expecting. The world is pregnant with hope. People seem kinder, more giving, more open. It is sad that we can’t remain this way all year long. We need to learn from this period of expectation that things can be better. We can be more caring of others. We can live together in peace. Let’s make it so.

Perhaps love

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, answers, appreciate, love, memories, music, peace, powerful, Uncategorized

Today I heard one of John Denver’s songs and remembered how much I love his music. He didn’t write all of them himself but he did write this one. It is one of my favorites.

Peace

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, answers, calm, connections, coping, feelings, moments, peace, perspective, understanding

Addendum: For some reason this was difficult to write. I couldn’t seem to get down exactly how I was thinking. I hope it makes sense.

Seeking peace. I think in a way we are all reaching for that. From my limited experience that’s what leads people to suicide. For them there seems to be no other way to find peace.

Each of us looks for peace in our own way. It may be religion, it could be alcohol, it could be drugs. Some find it in nature, other people, family. There are so many places to look. I remember a story from many years ago in a mystery book about Mrs. Pollifax. (by Dorothy Gillman) This is a paraphrase of the story:

God is having a conversation with Gabriel. He is talking about giving mankind a soul. They discuss where it could be put…the highest mountain, the deepest part of the sea, but God says mankind will look in those places. Then God says “I know, I will put it inside him. He will never look there.”

seeking peace

That is where peace is to be found. Inside us. The trouble is it will be difficult to find. We are affected by the things around us. Life is challenging. I think that there are few of us who can “feel” peace all the time. Maybe the mystics…maybe those like Mother Theresa or Gandhi. I’m sure they would say that they don’t have it all the time either.

So what in the world am I talking about? I guess I am just looking at the times I do feel peace and savoring them. They don’t seem to be any more permanent than anything else.

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”     Ralph Waldo Emerson