Give Me Peace

The story that follows was told by my friend Joy:

“My son Danny required surgery four years ago to biopsy some growths in his jawbone.  The doctor said it would take five days for him to determine if it was cancerous.  FIVE days?!  I freaked out and didn’t feel like I would be able to deal with the waiting.

At that time, I was studying ACIM (A Course in Miracles).  I was so miserable about the current circumstances, that I decided to do what The Course suggests, which is basically Surrender (Trust Life).

The moment I was able to Surrender, a wave of peace swept over me and I felt I heard God’s voice say, “It doesn’t matter what happens.”  This was not at all a cryptic message.  I understood it to mean that it’s not what the doctor was going to tell me that would bring peace into my life.

I wanted good news, but mostly I wanted peace and freedom from being at the mercy of the vicissitudes of life. There would always be another issue to fret about.  There would always be something my mind would try to latch on to and worry about.  But I wanted to learn how to deal with life with an inner-knowing that all would work out without me ‘doing‘ anything.”

The Peace of a Warrior

As I read Joy’s story for the first time, I couldn’t help thinking about the “Sufi Story” I posted last month.  In the story, a warrior and his wife are facing a tremendous storm while they are out at sea.  The wife is afraid for their lives, yet she is also baffled by how calm her husband appears to be – so much so, that she questions his sanity.

In response to her questions regarding his behavior, the warrior puts his sword to her neck and asks if she is afraid.  She laughs and says no, because she knows he loves her and will not hurt her.  Now, this is the part of the story that reminds me of Joy’s story – it’s also the part of the story I read over and over because of its poignance.  The warrior explains that whatever is going to happen is going to be good because they’re in Gods hands.  “If we survive, good; if we don’t survive, good…”

Good, I thought?  Really?  I rephrased it in my mind as, “If we survive, good; if we die, good.”  I contemplated that sentence for several days until I felt what the Sufi story was indeed trying to teach.  Once I could feel what it was teaching (a true trust in Our Creator), the following part of the story became so much more powerful to me:

“This is the trust one needs to imbibe.  Such tremendous trust is capable of transforming your whole life.  And ONLY such tremendous trust is capable of transforming your life — less than that won’t do.”

To trust in God.  To Surrender fully.  Or as Joy stated, “I wanted to learn how to deal with life with an inner-knowing that all would work out without me ‘doing‘ anything.”

And when you’ve done all…stand.  Trust.  Surrender.

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