Be at peace...

Happy New Year, My Beloved!

    On Sunday Rob* asked for New Year’s resolutions and then later asked me if we ought to have a church-wide resolution too.  “That would be fun,” I said, or something like it, paying him less attention than I should.  But it came to mind again this morning reading Thomas à Kempis.  The New Year’s resolution I would offer to all of us and to our life together is this:  Be At Peace.   

    Be at peace with one another . . . . 

        Be at peace with the world . . . .

            Be at peace in any circumstance  . . . .

    As Thomas explains so thoroughly in The Imitation of Christ, being at peace is entirely internal work, work between oneself and God.  For your reflection - I’ve written out Book II, Chapter 3 for you here.  This is Ronald Knox’s translation with my own gender pronoun adjustments.  It’s as good a piece as one will find on how to be a church.  I pray you’ll join me in this adventure of peace.  

~ peace & prayers, 
pastor annette
​

The Imitation of Christ
Translated from the Latin by Ronald Knox

Book II, Chapter 3
On the Character of a Peaceable Person

Peace in our own soul first of all, then you can think about making peace between other people. Peaceable folk do more good than learned folk do.  When one is at the mercy of one’s own feelings, one misinterprets the most innocent actions, always ready to believe the worst; whereas your peaceable person sees good everywhere; at peace within, never suspicious of others.

It’s when you become discontented and unbalanced that your mind is torn by suspicions; there is no rest for you, no rest for those around you.  You are always saying the wrong thing, and missing your chance of doing the right thing; you are jealous about your rights, and forget that you have duties. If you will begin by having a high standard for yourself, you can afford to have a high standard for other people.


How is it that you are so glib in excusing yourself, putting a good colour on your own actions, and won’t listen when excuses are offered to you? Honesty should make you accuse yourself, excuse your neighbour; bear with others when you expect them to bear so much from you. Believe me, you’ve got a long way to go before you can lay claim to real charity, real humility. There should only be one target for all this angry resentment - yourself.

You get on well with gentle, good-natured folk?  Why, so does everybody; we all like to have friends around us, we all have a soft spot for the person who agrees with us. But when people are difficult and cross-grained, when they get out of hand and keep on contradicting us, to keep on good terms with them - ah, that needs a lot of grace; that’s a grown-up’s job, and you can’t praise it too highly. 

People differ so; there are contented people, ready to lived contentedly with others; and there are restless people who give no rest to those around them, a burden to others and a worse burden to themselves; and there are those who restrain their own passions, and do their best to restrain the passions of others. But in this imperfect life, when all’s said and done, peace doesn’t mean having no enemies, it means being ready to put up with ill-treatment.


It’s the ones who have learnt the craft of suffering who really enjoy peace.  They are their own masters and the world lies at their feet; they have Christ as their friend and heaven as their inheritance.