Peace

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:6-7

As I was reading through my book for the Capstone course, “Cassandra: a Novel and four Essays”, I came across a passage in which Cassandra describes how Troy is slowly unraveling to its demise. Her own people don’t heed her advice and she believes that the Trojans have planned their own defeat. Furthermore, she repeats themes about the oppression of women by men and the related slave trade that inevitably results from war. In the midst of all this she asserts: “Solace was what I needed. Peace that was not the peace of the grave. Living peace. Love’s peace” (123). This is not a peace that can come with dying. This is not a peace that can come from knowing the future, because she is Apollo’s prophetess. This is not a peace that comes from the oracles of the gods, because even she admits that the oracles are “made to order” by the royal family (89). So, where might Cassandra have gotten this peace. Well, in the passage she mentions “Love’s peace.” The Christian God which is referred to in Philippians 4:6-7, is often called Love in the Bible. And it is His peace which is unfathomable for the human mind and fills the heart and the mind. If Cassandra needed peace, what she needed was Christ’s peace!

We need Christ’s peace each and every day. It’s just sometimes, we don’t acknowledge our own need. Today, our study abroad group was forced to see that need. As the evening activities wound down, many of us were cold, tired and extremely stressed out from the loads of work we have to catch up. Because of that, we became quickly irritated and angry with each other, even over minor issues. Many times we pray for world peace or peace to end wars or end disease (which is good). But sometimes (oftentimes), we need Christ’s peace in our own lives. And God offers it to us. No other peace will satisfy us. Only Christ’s peace can.