The Heart of Peace Making: Part 1

Navigating Through the Storm

At the time of this writing, we all find ourselves living in a very conflicted tumultuous world. If we take a worldly view of our current situation there seems to be no sign of hope or peace anywhere. It would appear that there is good reason to be concerned, anxious, depressed & even fearful about our future as we wrestle with the on-going pandemic, & as we hear of or even witness the extensive growing conflict that is being expressed around the world through personal attacks, threats, & violent hateful language expressed toward one another that leads to the violent actions that are currently going on between the varied & extensive cultures that are warring regularly with one another at this time. Understandably, people wake up worried & afraid about the general environment (hurricanes, wildfires, algae blooms), the violence, the economy, their families, the education of their children, their safety, their health, & the future. When asked, the majority of people report that they feel helpless to change the path we find ourselves on & feel scared & marginally hopeless.

So, this is the situation that we find ourselves in at this time. It is situation that contributes negatively to the health & wellbeing of our mind, body, & spirit. There is no question that continuing to go forward with this earthly view born of varied conflicting opinions & behaviors that create fear, anxiety, depression, & hopelessness, interferes with our general health & in the long run will affect our immune system & eventually will make us broken and sick & affect our capacity to heal.

Thankfully God our Creator offers us another view, a view given & informed by the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual view that will heal us as individuals & as a world community, leading us to health & wholeness of mind, body & spirit. God offers us a path where we are led by the Holy Spirit versus an earthly path informed by the opinions & actions of the conflicted world. The path we chose as we go forward, will either sustain, feed, & strengthen us to become peacemakers as blessed children of God, contributing to the wellness & healing of all of God’s people, or it will undermine our health & wellness, & contribute to the ongoing conflict & aggression in the world at this time. The choice is ours.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy