Day 306…Peace

Chet makes a bold claim on Day 306: 

The number one piece towards peace is patience and that the enabler of patience is clarity of priorities. 

Clarity. 

Not the kind of clarity where one thinks they see, but the kind of clarity that can see. Big difference. Many think they see. Few do. I have been blind all of my life. The times of great sight – have come from INsight.  

How does one gain INsight? Through deep introspection, deep contemplation, deep meditation and prayer…followed by writing those thoughts out, drawing your thoughts (as I prefer) – on paper. INsight has to make it OUTside or it becomes like a treasure at the bottom of the ocean. There, but of no use. 

After my last rotation which involved 22 months of direct combat there was very little peace. It came and went. The going was tough (thank you AST). My mind was on full-blast and could not turn off – ever. It was not saying good things to me, by the way. 

A book on mindfulness by one of my ‘spiritual guides,’ Tich Nhat Hahn, opened up a whole new world of awareness and mediation to me. I struggled with the application of this knowledge for a very long time. Another ‘spiritual guide’ (thanks MM) taught me a technique to just get the mind to focus one on small task and then build on that small success. In no time, I could sit easily for over an hour and at times an hour would seem like a blink of an eye. At other times, meditation has felt like a blink of an eye lasts an hour – and even sitting for 30 seconds just is too painful. Too much noise. Too much worry. Too much fear. 

Meet that pain, meet that noise, meet that worry, meet that fear head on – in silence. Just sit. Just sit and listen to yourself for five minutes. Can you be present with yourself? 

The kingdom of God is within you. – Luke 17:21 

Meditation and prayer allowed for just enough space from the madness going on in my mind to quiet for long enough for me to begin to gain a thread of clarity. Within this clarity, a semblance of peace was found – but finding that peace took time. Be patient. Why? Why was it important for me to work so hard at this meditation practice? Because it allowed me to begin to hear what my own soul was saying…my soul was calling out but until I was able to quiet my mind – I heard nothing. 

Always patient but always ‘in the ring’. Trust me. A daily routine of meditation will have impacts far beyond those you can imagine. You might accidentally bump into yourself but for sure you will get clarity. 

Meditate on this for five minutes today. It is a koan: 

The number one piece towards peace is patience. 

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience. The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” 

-Leo Tolstoy 

What is your missing piece towards peace? 

TOGETHER WE TRANSFORM 

Jim 

1COR13:13