on a cool morning after a stroll along a steep, rocky, and winding route of pre-internet days, I found a secluded area to rest. The serenity of the forest was friendly and inviting, where a soul can easily encounter its God. I watch in awe, as schools of multicolored birds float free of time, and noisily chirping love and joy to their Creator.. I see little dots of land scattered like green jewels in the vast Pacific ocean. I watch countless waves splash onto the open deep and their delicate foams fold into one long stretch of undulating wave, racing to greet the distant horizon, and gradually gather strength and size and float away. I soak in the wonder of this experience.
This must be PEACE — the cry of prayers and the longing of the human heart. Peace — that
harmony between the individual and God; that harmony between one person to another. But where does peace begin? In a family? An island? A country? A nation? Saint Francis of Assisi was quoted as saying that peace begins with each person, no mat- ter how small or unimportant the person feels or appears to be.
Away from the distractions of a greedy world, one can find the passageway to that spiritual terrain where peace exists. The cobwebs and assumptions that a good and happy life is about pos- sessions and positions banishes. In peace, one finds that life is rich, true beauty is eternal, and that every personal connection, enjoyable or hurtful, has meaning and purpose. Peace, I believe is life’s greatest gift from the Prince of Peace born in Bethlehem — “… and let it begin with me”.