Converting Sorrow Into Peace

"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."
~Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
Once we have the capacity to feel sorrow we remain indelibly connected with it. This is not about the acute sorrow of having lost a dear one or a relationship so much, or of having been brutally disappointed, as it's about the generalised sorrow that we take with us in life. This is the capacity to grieve; yet not in a besmirching way. Of course, it's the capacity of the mature to grieve without complaining. Yet we will all complain about sorrow. To go past complaint is our goal.
Sorrow takes us into another realm of existence. Her depths are cavernous. We could not have pictured going so low. Sorrow shows us a thing or two we never knew.
But we are not necessarily cheated by God in our experience of sorrow. No, it opens new doors; new doors of possibility through the ancient door, Peace.
GRIEF AND ITS AVENUES TO PEACE
This is something unexpected that the grieving finds when they approach their grief openly. Little do they know that such a wise response is to pay handsomely. It is an investment in their understanding.
The initial reading of Ecclesiastes leaves us in two minds regarding sorrow. Did we ever see such connection between wisdom and sorrow, between knowledge and grief?
I think what the Teacher in Ecclesiastes means is that sorrow and grief, for the wise and knowledgeable, is no longer a threat. They have found in it a way of godly understanding. They have found peace, yes even in unmerited sadness.
And, of course, this is a strange peace. God hides the words from our vocabulary through which we would describe it, for descriptions are unnecessary. It's all about experience. It's all about relationship - we with God; we would ourselves. That is the gold.
Such gold always produces peace.
So whether we are having our first bout of acute sorrow or not is irrelevant. Once sorrow has touched our lives, and we, even simply in a few significant moments, have embraced that sorrow in God's name, to suffer as Jesus did on the cross and to connect with him there, we access peace.
And if this promise is yet to be realised in our lives we know now it is worth searching for. This peace we speak about, once possessed in the memory, becomes part of us, as if we had known God for the very first time - as our most important relationship.
***
Sorrow is ironical. When we take it as openly as we can, seeking God in it, there is the door of peace opened to us. How we feel transcends our understanding. We simply experience it. We convert our sorrow into peace when we embrace the unremitting sadness. God meets us there.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
Steve Wickham is a Registered Safety Practitioner (BSc, FSIA, RSP[Australia]) and a qualified, unordained Christian minister (GradDipBib&Min). Steve writes at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com.au/ and http://tribework.blogspot.com.au/

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Peace and Quiet Within

When all is noisy about,
Yet all is quiet within,
Any thought for doubt,
Doesn't even begin.

Peering out the window,
Rain pouring down,
Oh, what a show!
No sign of a frown.

When we're at peace to see,
Thunder and lightning about,
Inside and safe is glee,
Gatherings of praise to shout.

***

How wonderful it is to be inside during a thunderstorm, as we peer through our windows at the awesome display that God's creation can unleash.

It is as if there is even more peace available during dangerous times when we feel especially safe. Positioned to safely observe, where no one else is at threat, because if they were we would not feel safe, we are able to delight at the wonder unfolding before our eyes.

And the power of such images flood back into our minds, and well-up pleasantly warm feelings in the heart, of times past when we were blessed with such safety.

When we feel peace and quiet within, time tends to stop. When we feel so safe the ever-threatening world seems more irrelevant than ever. When we feel so safe, rare as it might occur, we may have the gift of God - to replay the image again whenever we feel unsafe.

Coiling up in front of the fire or resting on the bench watching the sun set over the ocean, or anywhere where life unfolds before us in beauty, we have this gift.

The gift of feeling peace and quiet within is no ordinary gift - it is God's sure and comforting Presence in the world that we too often find scary.

The value of such a memory packs double power. We recall it by memory and we attain a memory for it. In the latter situation, what we are saying is we tend to unconsciously seek the space to create more and more peace and quiet within. And that is very good. The more we desire peace, the more effort we put in to achieve peace, the more we are bound to experience peace.

When we experience peace and quiet within we are sold.

Never is there a better experience for a human being than peace and quiet within.

Once it has been enjoyed, this sense of holy Shalom in the world, we are converted. When we are so convinced that goodness-of-soul is possible we want more and more of it. Sometimes the trick is impatience for the troubling times we have to deal with. We cannot have peace and quiet within at all times, which is frustrating.

But we can plan to have times of peace and quiet within. Having experienced such times all we can do is manufacture the circumstances and let God do the rest.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Steve Wickham is a Registered Safety Practitioner (BSc, FSIA, RSP[Australia]) and a qualified, unordained Christian minister (GradDipBib&Min). His blogs are at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com/ and http://inspiringbetterlife.blogspot.com/

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Law Of Attraction: Discovering Peace Will Erode Your Barriers

The law of attraction is at work all the time regardless you are aware of it or not. It works to attract everything and anything that you focus your attention and energy on. In other words, it attracts all positive and negative events with you in the driver's seat. You are the deciding factor!

Why don't you take a break and assess your current situation in life. Ask yourself if they are the results of what you have been giving your most attention and energy to.

Knowing exactly what you want in life is not enough for the law of attraction to work exactly in the way you want. You need to fine-tune and balance your vibrating energy into alignment with what you want. Your thoughts and emotions are the determining factor to your vibrating energy. If you are constantly in a state of discontentment, fear and doubt, you will be creating negative vibrating energies that drive you in the opposite direction from what you truly want. On the other hand, if you are constantly feeling contented and grateful, you will reach a state of peacefulness with yourself and the circumstances that surround you. By doing so, you will increase your positive vibrating energy to create more of what you want in life.

Life is full of choices! At any moment in your life, you can choose peace. You can choose inner peace. You can choose peace between friends or you can choose peace between enemies. You can also choose peace on the planet. Regardless of the conditions you are in, you have the choice to choose to be at peace with yourself and all that comes into contact with you.

Your peace is the state of being, unaffected by anyone or anything or any circumstances that surrounds you. You realized that nothing you experienced in your past, today and in the future can come about without your permission. You feel relief, blessed, optimistic and hopeful. When you are in a state of peacefulness, you are taking responsibility for your own thoughts and emotions. You will soon discover your creative energy to manage your inspired actions and the opportunities that are continually attracted to you. When you choose to be at peace, you are allowing the law of attraction to work for you positively and draw you closer towards your goals.

Most people are not truly happy or comfortable with themselves. They are constantly at war with themselves and are often torn away from the peace that they deserved in order to attract what they want. In order to achieve peace with themselves there must be acceptance. It doesn't mean totally foregoing whatever you want but at least you are not in a state of constant resistance. Things and situations can be changed but solutions can only be easier found when calm prevails.

John F. Kennedy once said, "Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures." When you finally find peace, you will become a powerful magnet to creating and attracting everything that you are passionate about. This is one of the secrets of the law of attraction!

I freelance as a ghostwriter and I also write regularly to share my learning curves, thoughts and manifesting experiences with the Law of Attraction on my blog at "Inside My Bubble Today". Come share my journey as we make this law of the Universe work for us together. You can download "You Can Do It Too!" e-book for FREE now and start your very own journey to attracting more abundance. Please feel free to visit The Journey of Living Deliberately at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Joy-of-Living-Deliberately/255243041185415 and share your valuable thoughts with everyone there.

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