Brian’s Reflection: Monday, March 21, 2011

Of one thing I am certain, the
body is not the measure of healing.
Peace is the measure.

Phyllis McGinley, author, poet; she
was born on this date, 1905, in
Ontario, Oregon

Nicely said! It’s something that those of us who pray for healing for folks need to be clear about.

Of course we would all like to be free of pain, so it’s not surprising that we pray for the pain to “be taken away”. And I suppose that no one really wants to die, so we pray to live. But of course we will suffer a lot of pain on all levels in our lives, and experience various healings, and eventually we will all die to this earthly Life.

Phyllis is right. “Peace is the measure.” Sure, I think that we should do our best not to be pain that can be alleviated. But Peace is the core character of Healing. We can bear a lot that we have to bear if we are at peace.

So it is not surprising that Jesus is recorded to have said often in some form, “Peace I give you, My own Peace I leave with you”.

That is, as the Book of Common Prayer says, “The Peace of God, which passes all understanding”.

May we all have it; may we all minister it to each other.

Brian+