In the circle

Monday, January 11, 2021

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

The contrast could not be sharper. Music filters through the room, gently rising to the ceiling vault, finding the far corners; unseen waves of grace flowing, floating, unhurried, invisible but undeniable as the surrounding air.

A Celtic harp, violin and recorder breathe a haunting Gaelic tune that echoes familiar yet unnamable as the Love that blesses the room, an invocation of grace for the day. It awakens a fountain within that is the Presence of the Love most wanting on the streets that silently rage on the television screen.

A circle of love, of light, surrounds the chair by the window as coffee steams fresh from the cup in my hand, and I sit, here, at the radiant center of the circle, enveloped by this nameless Love whom I have ceased attempting to name. There is no need. This One just is, and is the One I most need.

Nothing seems less relevant to the silent screen on the wall. Perhaps this place of being is just an escape that I should escape and join the fray, weighing in on the rage and insanity that grips the masses, left and right.

This thought pulls at conscience, but long ago I learned, painfully, the anger of human hearts does not work the justice of God. And great anger burns within for those who trade truth for lies and reason for rage.

Worst of all is the blasphemous use of the name, Jesus, to justify the ravages of hate, twisting faces into horrid contortions of lost humanity. There are few things uglier than the face of arrogant, self-righteous rage. Still, I must be careful not to use the name of Love to condemn others as divinely loved as me, however wrong I think them.

But I fear they ... and so many of us ... will become irretrievably lost to rage and fear. Our souls are at stake as well as the lives and hearts of millions and the integrity of a nation. There seems so little any one of us can do. Still, each of us must speak and act, knowing that everything we do and say will fan the fire or quench some small part of it with grace and reason.

Although it seems naïve ... and maybe hopelessly pious ... the only cure I know for these days of rage starts with knowing a Love, a grace, a call that transcends and is greater than self.

So for a few precious minutes, I will sit in this circle, enveloped in this Love who blesses the room and frees the soul.

Pr. David L. Miller