You and I, amid our journeys often find ourselves drowning in the storms of life. Refusing to adjust our sails, we go about doing our thing. So much time, talent, and treasure are spent on things not meaningful to us, blowing us off course. We need to constantly adjust our sails.
No one escapes the storms and pressures of their own life. Each of us must deal with the difficult aspects of our life, with injustices inflicted upon us, and injustices which we wittingly or unwittingly inflict upon others. The only hope for ending our internal conflict, the only possibility of stability for us in the middle of the storm, is to establish what Howard Thurmond calls an “Island of Peace within one’s own soul.”
Thurmond’s thesis is that deep within our soul is the holy of holies where God dwells – not the God of our society, our government, our church, or our family, but the God of our hearts. It is there we find our true, authentic selves and come alive; it is the Island of Peace.
It is there that what one really thinks and feels about one’s own life is unearthed and the person behind the curtain unveiled; that can be a scary thing!
Authentic honesty – who we are, what our plans are, where we are heading in life – all is available to us at the holy of holies on this isle. If you have not found your Island of Peace within your own soul, there is no better time than now to journey there. Take some fruit with you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Life is too short for anything else. Be the church!
Shalom, Paul