Finding Peace
Psalm 95:1-7
Sometimes I like to skip the major readings for the day and focus on a Psalm.
Photo by author
Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land. Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him. - Psalm 95:1-7
What do you feel when you read this? I get a sense of peace.
There are some days, like today, when I can’t wait to get up and get started with the day. It may be early. The sun is still asleep, and I am ready to go.
It is as if I suddenly realize that God has all this stuff out there waiting for me to go out and find it, to experience its joy and beauty, and I am dilly-dallying, getting myself organized to meet the day head-on.
Peace has become hard to find in our world today. We are surrounded by distractions and annoyances. Busyness occupies our lives like never before, and all of that can be stressful.
Life shouldn’t have to be a performance.
Everywhere I look, people are performing. They are acting, selling, pushing their way into the line of sight of someone they don’t know to gain a second of attention. Is that satisfying?
The psalm reminds us that God is the creator of all. He has given us vast landscapes of abundant beauty and nature to go out and explore. And we sit behind our screens and scroll through photos taken by those who chose to go out and see for themselves.
I went for a walk yesterday in a wooded park near me. I didn’t know it existed. My daughter and son-in-law told me about it, and I decided to check it out.
It is a series of trails that wrap around and double back, skirting along a river, with rocky streams trickling by your feet. One needs to pay attention to the ground, for the roots and rocks can trip you up. And that’s part of the mystique. I usually listen to music when I walk, but yesterday, I wanted to simply absorb the surroundings.
I felt at peace.
When was the last time you felt peace?
It may seem silly to hear this but finding peace and living in it are my main goals at this stage of my life. I don’t need the chaos. Everything is often too much work. I want to put my effort into what has meaning, rather than spending it second-guessing others, wondering if I have said the wrong thing or if I am misunderstood.
I met some people on my walk yesterday. A man was walking his dog and I must have looked lost because he offered directions. I told him I was just exploring and we both went on our way.
Two women came by, walking three dogs. I passed them twice, once in either direction. They, too, seemed at peace.
People smile at each other in the woods, on a trail, walking along the water’s edge. It is as if God has planted seeds of joy along the way, and the pollen from their blooms gets into our heads, not to make us sneeze, but to open our eyes and ears.
Peace.
It is a worthy goal.
When we get to a certain age, we look around at all we’ve accumulated and say that we need to declutter our lives. But do we? Clutter comes in many forms. I like the idea of carrying less. It means I can go further with less effort.
More to come...