Sowing Peace Within

Nov 03, 2024

Our national election is weighing heavily on my heart, and maybe yours too. My mind is muddled so I’m taking a break from my Sunday Substack posts for paid subscribers. Today, I’m writing to connect the dots between spiritual practices and inner peace because I need to find my way back to peace.

Some of us are invested in the daily ups and downs of the news cycle, already planning to stay up late to watch the returns. Others are worn out from the animosity and plan to hit the hay early on Tuesday. All of us are ready for the election to be over, if only for the political ads to end. Worn out though we are, we will not sit this election out. Too many people have fought too hard for our right to vote for us to stay home.

We recognize that this deeply contentious race has divided our country, neighborhoods, and families. You need not look far to find someone forecasting a future much bleaker and less peaceful than the one in which we live.

I take a pragmatic approach to life, rarely seeing anything through rose-colored glasses. I have read and studied and paid attention and prayed like many of you. People will be negatively impacted by this election. Who and how much remains to be seen.

The final vote will be cast and the counting will commence on Tuesday.

What shall we do on Wednesday?

Once the votes are cast we will still be the same people. We will live in the same homes, go to the same churches, shop in the same grocery stores. Maybe the world will feel like it has shifted on its axis, maybe not. We will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with people who did not vote the same way we did. We will ring in the New Year and make resolutions.

We may or may not eventually be living with circumstances we did not vote for. This might make us bitter, but it does not have to.

We have a choice about how we engage with other people regardless of the election’s outcome. There will always be people with whom we agree and people with whom we disagree. How we love them matters.

Rather than ignore the next four years, we can make a difference.

On Wednesday (and every day after), we can choose to sow peace or engage in animosity.

Animosity seems easier.

When I view other people as me vs. them, I focus more on our differences instead of what we have in common.

When I focus on what we don’t agree on, my chest tightens and my breathing grows shallow.

Seeing another person as a proxy for their chosen candidate erases the other person’s humanity.

When I can’t find words to talk about what I think is important, I feel threatened.

When I lose my peace, animosity is unleashed. In some ways this is cathartic. Unfortunately, the aftermath takes longer to clean up than if I had handled things with more love.

To sow peace in our communities we need to have peace within.

Before we engage with others, we must enrich our souls.

Where I place my attention changes me from the inside out. Given enough time, I will find what I seek. Dedicating my attention to Spiritual Practices rather than what makes me different from someone else helps me regain my inner peace.

Although animosity is easier, it is not better for our bodies than peace. Anger, stress, and conflict shorten our lives. A peaceful inner disposition can change the atmosphere in a room, erasing animosity.

When chaos, confusion, or a contentious conversation is on the horizon— prayer restores peace. At peace, I can think more clearly, listen more attentively, and respond more open-heartedly. Have you found the same thing?

Prayer has not always been my default setting. I’m more prone to introspection, analysis, and gossiping. Spiritual Practices helped me create habits to make prayer a more natural response to the daily stress life tends to offer.

So, what is a Spiritual Practice? They are scaffolding for the soul. The practices are the intentional actions of someone seeking a way of life rather than a cluster of beliefs. They provide structure to the soul seeking to interact with God’s grace.

Spiritual Practices to Try:

Read/Pray Scripture passages from the daily lectionary. Spend a few moments with the Psalm of the day. Linger over one verse that stands out to you.
Nature Walk. Take a walk without your phone and engage your senses. Notice what is happening in nature. Do you see any animals or insects? How are the trees changing? What does the air temperature feel like on your skin? What natural sounds do you hear? Can you smell anything new or different? God has created this beautiful world, where do you see God on your walk?
Fast from the News. Take a break from the news for a few hours or a whole day. Notice how much time and mental space this frees up for you. Notice how often you feel compelled to check on the changes in the news.
Give of yourself. Write an encouraging email or letter. Volunteer your time or money to a cause close to your heart. Give compliments freely.
Pray a decade of the Rosary. 10 Hail Marys, 1 Our Father, and 1 Glory Be coupled with deep breaths help ground you in the present moment.
Reflective Writing. As Henri Nouwen encouraged, ““Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.”