Let There Be Peace on Earth...

Peace. Dear God in heaven, what is it? We greet with it, flash it across a room, letter it on banners, stick it in the windows of our car, sing songs about it, and ultimately bury it with great ceremony under a stone, attesting to that fact. To me, it is a stranger.
If it feels like satisfaction, then I know what it is...but that's called `satisfaction'.
If it feels like direction, belief, faith, then I know what it is...but that's called `direction' or `belief' or `faith'.
If it feels like self-acceptance, then I know what it is...but that's called `self acceptance'.

There have been moments when I felt a sensation different from all of these. Mine when I gave up trying to accomplish all things. When I threw up my hands and despaired. It came over me as complete transformation and felt like dance in slow motion to enchanted music. Like the shock of silence the instant a motor shuts off. It was so good, I wanted it to last for all time. In panic, I asked, "When will I lose it? Was it something else and I just named it peace? How did I come by it? Do I still feel it? Did I ever really possess it?" ...and it vanished.

Suddenly, I again felt frightened and began running, searching, hunting, craving.
Hey you, happy-go-lucky guy — you always seem so cheerful. Does your smile indicate peace?
Superstar! In your pursuit of excellence and the title `Winner' did your victory ever bring you peace?
You, mister, your life is so organized, lived so logically — is it obvious to you that the next feeling you will feel is peace?
Pardon me, kind soul, I notice everyone comes to you because you are so patient and gentle. In your goodness, is there peace?
Ms.! You demanded equality, searched out identity, and labored toward fulfillment — were you delivered into the world of peace?
You up there, you climbed the ladder marked success. Was it up there? Peace?

Some held it in their hands and offered it to me, but when I reached out, I found nothing. Was it really there? Did it change during the touch? Or didn't I recognize it in my hand?

I walk the roads with peace-filled people. We lift the same stones and trip over the same twigs...but only I become weary.
Yes, peace has eluded me except for the faint trickle that slips down my throat when I cry out to God for help. I am perplexed by life's circumstances, tormented by its uncertainties, amazed by its events, challenged by its problems, surprised by its rewards, and frightened by its justice.
I march through life seeking out the promised `peace' and have met only with frustration. It escapes me when I search and it finds me when I surrender. But hope fills me still. If I must exist with only its promise, its promise is enough.

Peace, cherished peace, perhaps I shall know you
only as my prize for the fight lost, but won.