Spirit Matters: Let peace begin with me

I went digging in the archives this week, and found this column – one of my favorites – which was first published on Nov. 18, 2015. It is interesting to read now. It seems no matter what time or age we live in, we lament how hostile the people and the world in which we live can be. Maybe that reality just goes to reiterate the original premise of this column – if we want peace in our world, we must first look within ourselves, and attend to the shadows and darkness therein, before we can hope for there to be peace around us.

As I slid the pale blue beads through my fingers and murmured the familiar prayers to the rosary this week, I wondered what Grandma would think of all of this.

It has been nearly a year now since her spirit left her body, so as I prayed this prayer of peace with beads she used to pray with herself, I couldn't help but think of the chaos in the world — the chaos springing from individual and collective hearts — and what she would think about it all.

She lived 98 years, and although she grew up and lived her life in the relative peace of the countryside, she was not ignorant to the anger and hostility that resides in the human heart.

Still, I can almost see her soft, fair skin and her gentle blue eyes sink in sadness at how cruel and intolerant our society and our world has become. It seems as though lately, it has escalated beyond anything we've ever known. And for some people, sadly, their reflex reaction is to answer cruelty and intolerance with even more cruelty and intolerance.

As I continued on in my meditation, I couldn't help but think of the Middle Eastern man who came to earth 2,000 years ago and in all of 33 years, changed the course of history forever.

I wondered what he would think about it all. I wondered if he would think "where and how did it all go wrong?"

It was especially poignant that I happened to be praying the sorrowful mysteries — those events in this Middle Eastern man's life when he was beaten, mocked and forced to carry his cross to his own bloody execution.

I thought of the love threaded through all of this Middle Eastern man's actions that one week so long ago, and how even in the face of cruelty and intolerance, his gentle eyes looked back at his accusers with forgiveness and an open heart.

Although it is easy to think the world has veered irreversibly off course, I believe otherwise.

I know too many good people who are saddened by the violence in and around them.

I know too many good people who are appalled by the sheer hatred they are bombarded with every day through the images flashed on various types of media — and the comments from those on social media.

I know too many good people, who deep in their hearts, desire most a peaceful world in which to live and in which their children and grandchildren can grow and do work that will leave the world a bit of a better place than it was when they came here.

It seems to me — and this is just my humble opinion — if you want the violence near and far to stop, you have to stop responding to that violence with a knee-jerk reaction of hatred and intolerance.

If you want peace in the world, you must begin with yourself.

And watch it grow.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines spirituality in The Times' readership area. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada at jzavada@mywebtimes.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and community.