“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”
~Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

“What is there to be done in the face of this mounting, totally blind, uncontrollable, illusive and unpredictable threat?” writes Moira Allan (resident of Paris and Co-Founder of the Pass It On Network) as she shares her thoughts about the November 13th, 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. She poses the quintessential question for all of us to ask ourselves in the face of these terror-plagued times: “What can each and every one of us do to be prepared?”

I began writing my thoughts in response to her question: Great is the challenge of our times but greater is the power accessible to us when we listen to the Wisdom of our collective Souls. Maybe more than ever in our lifetime, or maybe even in the time of human existence, we are ready to let our individual and collective Soul-desire for peace be stronger than our fear-laden Egoic will to resist the deep inner and outer changes needed for us to live in the safety of genuine peace. I pray this is the case.

I stopped writing, even though I had more to say. Why? Because my attention was diverted to a news announcement: A terrorist attack was occurring in San Bernardino, California: 14 people killed and 21 hurt; shooters drove away in a dark colored SUV. San Bernardino is about 50 miles from where I live and less than 30 miles from our church home.

The horrific details that surfaced over the days that followed further substantiated my belief that if we are to be prepared to confront — and better yet, have any hope of limiting and eventually preventing such acts in the future, we must first ‘wake-up.’ Individually and corporately, we have no power in our human nature to create the peace that we desperately desire. Human history verifies what our Egos have been terrified to accept: the way of peace is beyond human thinking, being, and doing. We can no longer afford to ignore what our Souls have known forever: in each and every moment, regardless of human circumstances, our Creator/God/Source of Peace is with us, ready to empower us in the way of peace.

To the degree that each of us are willing to deeply listen to our Soul’s desire for peace and are willing to be empowered to act on its directives is the degree to which we can see more clearly and fulfill our role in providing our joint need for peace and external safety.

As I listen to my Soul, I am led to make it a daily practice to pray that: Divine Peace be manifest in our World; I grow in the ways of Divine Peace in my inner and outer life; I allow my perceptions to see truth more clearly; I increasingly grow in courage to live in the moment as it actually is; and let go of that which does not serve my Soul’s desire to be an instrument of Peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

In the remaining few days of this sacred Holiday Season, may you give yourself and the world the gift of taking a few minutes to be still and listen deeply to your Soul as you humbly ask: What can I do to be prepared in the face of our terror-plagued times?

During this Holiday Season & in the Days to Come
May Your Soul Experience the Gift of Peace that Passes All Understanding

RECOMMENDED ARTICLE:
Growth or Protection, by Cathy Carmody
While speaking in the context of growing older, Cathy addresses the danger of allowing our fears to trap us in a perpetual state of protection, thereby giving us much to consider in light of our present circumstances.