While I was traveling through the United States and lecturing about Central America, I became aware that while I was exhausting myself to prevent war, the chances of war were increasing. This has helped me to realize that sometimes the powers of evil seduce us to work for peace in such a way that we come close to losing our soul. Peace Pilgrim helped me see how important inner peace is. It is that sense of God’s presence in our lives that allows us to trust in the power of God’s peace even when we do little. Living in L’Arche with the handicapped also opened my eyes to the peace that does not belong to this world but can be found here already.
Be sure to make this inner peace your utmost priority. . . . When we radiate the peace of Christ we are peacemakers, and then our peace action can witness to this inner peace. But without that inner peace our actions easily become instruments of the powers of war and destruction.
Jesus’ words “Pray unceasingly for the strength to survive all that is going to happen and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36) are of crucial importance for us in these days. Prayer should be our first concern. Without prayer even our “good busyness” will lead us to our destruction.
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