Spiritual Solutions

“Summer Heat Calls for Inner Cool!” I could see the headline now, as I worked with my frustration in trying to get someone to come out and fix our air-conditioning. It was the middle of summer and not only was the air inside the house hot, I was pretty hot too.

The promise was that someone would come out and fix it between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday. No one showed up. They said they’d be there Tuesday, between the same times. It was after 4 p.m. before anyone showed up.

Then, after assurances from customer service that we had a manufacturer’s warranty on the A/C unit, the service man tells me the condenser unit needs replacing and there’s no warranty on that.

It wasn’t just air-conditioning I needed by this time, it was inner conditioning! Ever been there? I’m sure you have. Of course, it all got resolved eventually. We got several quotes and now have a brand new condenser unit with a 10-year warranty.

A nice ending touch was that, a couple of days later, we received a lovely flower arrangement by way of the sales person. It sat there sweetly in the middle of our coffee table, quietly reminding me of the need for inner conditioning if you want to be truly cool.

There’s a great little story that points up the same message:

Once upon a time there was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried.

The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this painting thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too. But these mountains were ragged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

The king chose the second painting as the prize-winning picture of peace. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

Would you like to be truly cool and maintain a deep sense of inner peace?

Well, maybe I can help you with some inner conditioning.

Have you ever thought of using a meditation based on the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi? You may recall that the opening line of that famous prayer is, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”

The clue to finding peace is in those last two words: “thy peace.”

You can learn how to be a calm center of peace for yourself and an instrument of God’s peace for others. Here’s how:

First take some time, maybe each day for a week, to memorize the Prayer of St. Francis.

Then, having memorized the prayer, when you next settle into a time of quiet meditation, use one line of the prayer at a time and say it very slowly to yourself letting it sink into your consciousness at a deep level:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon,

Where there is doubt, faith,

Where there is despair, hope,

Where there is darkness, light,

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much

Seek to be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying [to self] that we are born to eternal life.

Let this be your form of meditation each day for as long as need be, and until you are feeling a deeper sense of peace within yourself. Then keep it in mind and use it whenever you need it any time in the future.

“If you are at peace,” said Thomas Merton, “then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.”

Yours, in Love and Peace,

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

P.S. If you would like to be on Rev. Alan’s personal mailing list to receive his inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions, you can sign up at http://spiritualsolutionsblog.com/