Peace Be With You

Affirmation:  I live a Christ centered life of love, peace, joy, gratitude and compassion.

Once upon a time an amateur golfer could purchase hole-in-one insurance.  If the golfer made a hole-in-one, he or she would receive an all-expense paid trip to anywhere in the world.  I knew this because one of my husband’s business associates at that time had just returned from a trip to Hawaii that he had “won” through this program.  My husband had a birthday coming up and I thought this would be an excellent present for him (for us!)  I probably had a slight attack of conscience because I mentioned it to him to make sure this was something he’d really enjoy.  He would not, he told me.  What he really wanted was a new set of golf head-covers.  That’s what I bought him.  He was happy.  The following week my husband had his first hole-in-one.  It did not make him happy.  He certainly didn’t want to call me to tell me about it.  I think if he could have kept it from me for the rest of his life, he would have but we lived in the tiny town of Norwich, New York and word would reach me probably sooner than later.  As you can imagine I was very disappointed.  I can think of several things I might have done differently had I known he was to have this hole-in-one after telling me not to buy him the $40.00 hole-in-one insurance.  But, it’s always easier in retrospect, isn’t it?  We’re always so much wiser in retrospect, aren’t we?  What would life be like if we were people who knew ahead of time what was going to happen?  

I love those sci-fi movies about people who are time travelers.  I especially like the ones where people go back to the past.  Two of my favorites are Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox and Peggy Sue with Kathleen Turner.  In both films they were able to impart helpful knowledge to people in their past to help them improve their lives in the future.  In Peggy Sue, Kathleen Turner had a nerdy friend who believed her story that she was from the future.  He wanted to know what he should invest in.  “Panty hose,” she suggested.  What should I invest in now that will insure my future success?  Do I need to be able to see the future to make those decisions?  Maybe I would be able to pick out the winning power ball number or I could buy some sort of unknown stock, like Apple, before it went through the ceiling.  Perhaps one would know who not to marry or what job not to pass up.  Oh, the places one could go and the things one could do without any concern, without any confusion. 

I have several dear friends whose early married lives were very difficult.  One friend’s husband left her with three children and declared bankruptcy.  Right after he left, her house burned to the ground.  These were only a few of the challenges she faced at that time. Her husband then began a new relationship and a new business and she was left to figure out how to survive.  The really good news is she did more than survive, she thrived!  It’s been a few decades now since all this began but recently she found out he was dying.  She held a lot of justified resentment towards him but she picked up the phone to talk to him and instead of venting all her frustration and anger, she found herself thanking him.  For what?  For her three wonderful children, for her stamina and fortitude and for the life she now lives.  If she could have seen into the future with all the travail she would face, she probably would have still chosen the same; a different choice would have meant she would be a different person and she’s a marvelous human being because of the trials she’s overcome.  She has made peace not only with her ex-husband but with life.

In the Catholic Mass we have one phrase that is used three times.  “Peace be with you.”  Three times the priest says, “Peace be with you.”  No other phrase is repeated even once but this one is repeated three times.  Why?  Because it’s the one gift everyone desires, peace.  When we are in the middle of war most of the population wants it to end.  They want peace.  When we are in the throes of caring for someone in pain, we pray for their peace.  When someone has experienced the death of a loved one, we ask for them to have peace.  When we or someone we know is faced with any sort of difficulty, financial or physical, we want to see them come to a peaceful place.  Peace.  What does it look like?  Can one find it in any situation?  Recently, an acquaintance confided that his job might be at risk.  We reacted with alarm.  He, on the other hand told us he wasn’t worried.  There was nothing he could do about it right now, so he wasn’t upset.  He was at peace.  We may not have a definitive definition for peace but we all know when it’s missing.  We all know when we are not at peace.  It is one of God’s greatest gifts.  We can claim it whenever we want.  Sometimes all it takes is a short prayer, a deep breath and a silent few moments.  Once we are at peace with ourselves, we can radiate that peace out into the rest of the world. 

It might seem like foreknowledge might be a better gift than peace but it doesn’t matter.  There is no such thing, no matter what the psychic tells us.  There’s no guarantee that we’ll ever know what the future will hold.  But, we can find peace with whatever life has brought us.  We can let go of the disappointments, the trials, the hurts, the not so wise choices and we can ask God to let us go forward with the gift of peace.  We can go forward knowing that our lives, the good, the bad and the ugly are exactly as they are supposed to be and that with God’s gift of peace, we can rest in all of it.  

P.S.  Because of Sandy's career we have not only traveled to Hawaii, we have traveled the world.  We really didn't need that hole-in-one insurance.