December 22, 2023
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Divine Peace
by Jan Reed
I am a Nine on the Enneagram–“The Peacemaker”–The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent. I avoid confrontation, which makes being a human in our world a big challenge. This personality type probably led to my attraction to Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer has cultivated an inner peace and calm which allows God to guide me forward in the ups and downs of life.
I once had a dream shortly after my mom died that I was walking from painting to painting in an art museum. I finally walked up to one painting that was not a painting at all, but a framed mirror with my mother looking out at me. My heart leapt at the opportunity to see her again and I exclaimed, “Mother! Are you ok?” She did not say a word, but smiled at me and nodded yes. That one gesture lifted a heavy load from my heart, and I knew all would be well.
Dreams can bring peace. I think that “dreams” and “prayers” have a lot of overlap.
Divine peace has always been on my mind. As a little girl, my mom would listen to my prayers at bedtime, and I often prayed for a peaceful world where everyone got along. I still dream of that peaceful world where we recognize the image of God in everyone and can “lift ourselves up out of our own narrow concerns and recognize the broader concerns of all humanity.” (MLK, Jr). This is my prayer.
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.”
“The spiritual journey does not require going anywhere because God is already with us.”
