Find Your Peace

As the seasons have shifted towards the holidays, I've been thinking about peace a lot. In the church world, we talk about peace in many ways: through the birth of Christ, the peace of Christ being with us, and peace here on earth.

With Veterans Day today, I'm altogether reminded how little we have peace here on earth. Whether it's constant war and political conflict, drama between co-workers, or just squabbles within the family; this year has felt polarized and frenetic.

The pressure to be everything to everyone, to do well, to make ends meet but still have a great holiday season, to be polite when you just want to scream and/ or tell everyone off, is a lot. There isn't much peace, then, is there?

So how do we find peace when the world seems at constant strife?

While we love you as a part of our MBP Social Media community, social media is full of strife and anger. People comment things that they would NEVER say in person. Reading comments often makes my blood boil, albeit it can be entertaining. With a world that now discloses their personal world on the internet, I'd suggest taking intentional breaks. Doesn't mean you have to give it up- but stop doomscrolling, hit "snooze" on those people/ subjects that rile you up and fill you with anxiety.
There's also a phrase going around, "I need to touch grass". This means, I need to get a reality check and perhaps, literally, go outside and touch some grass. I walk the dog around 3-4 times a day. Sometimes I'm answering texts and scrolling through emails, but the time I intentionally put the phone away and enjoy the walk; I see beauty.. and surprise.. might actually talk to a stranger or too out there too!
For those of us in faith- based families, no matter your religion, I highly doubt we spend enough time with our prayer and devotional life. As we head into the last couple weeks before Advent, grab an Advent devotional. There's a ton of free ones online! Sure, the Trader Joe's or Aldi Advent Calendars are yummy, but they do little to actually sustain us and give us peace.

Maybe its sitting in your car a minute before heading into work, the grocery store, or that school performance.

Maybe its intentionally putting your phone in another room before bed.

Maybe, just maybe, its saying no to that one function or event filled with people that you know will bring out your anxieties. Yes- we do have permission to say no to things, even family functions, when they are not fulfilling or restful. I know we have the "suck it up and get through mentalty", but that's extremely unhealthy too, because later we still won't be at peace and will be internally rehashing every phrase, look, and action from those we struggle to get along with during said function.

May you intentionally find peace in our chaotic and busy world.