Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. —John 14: 27
In my mind today, I’m thinking of the new year and all it will hold. I want it to hold peace for us all. Peace in our homes. Peace for the sick and elderly. Peace for the neglected children. Peace.
The Christmas season is a celebration of good will toward all. It’s a time to rejoice of a savior that came to give us the peace we all crave. It is the best gift if only we could let it grow. I know we can.
I read a quote on a friend’s social media page that said “Be the things you loved most about the people that are gone.” This made me stop and think. There are so many that have gone and it’s simply part of life, dying. The more I thought, I realized we do have those things in our DNA and they are pumped through our hearts. They are expressed in our actions. They are still here. We just need to never forget and nurture them. Guess what? They give peace to us and peace to others.
I haven’t written in a while because my arms are betraying me. Three years ago I met a young man of 73 years online. He and I shared our ups and downs with ALS. He lived in the Netherlands. We were able to face time each other. He told me when his hands and arms became paralyzed, he was finished. He couldn’t bear to burden his beloved wife any longer. He chose to have an assisted death. It’s been three years since we said goodbye. I still have his last Christmas gift wrapped and in my pantry. I didn’t get it mailed. It’s there to remind me of my friend. The good that was in him will live on through those he loved. I know many will judge his last choice, but waiting for peace in a body physically silenced by ALS is something I wish on no one.
Students let’s be harbingers of Peace in the new year. It’s been here all along. Just let it flow from your actions and words. Be the good. Where should you start? A wise woman once said begin with your family. All we need to do is literally “Give Peace a Chance.”
Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the Peace Spreading Gal
If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it.
There is no key to happiness; the door is always open.
Smile at each other. Smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other – it doesn’t matter who it is – and that will help to grow up in greater love for each other.
Mother Teresa
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