It is sad to see many disturb their soul when it desires to abide in this calm and repose of interior quietude where it is filled with the peace and refreshment of God, writes John of the Cross. He maintains we are our own worst enemy of peace, taking our soul out of quietude and forcing it into restlessness and distractions, letting superficial events and people disturb us beyond reason. But peace is not an easy thing to maintain. How are we to enter into that place of interior quietude?
Part of peace is having that interior place, one we can retreat to when things get hectic or disturbing. We cannot retire to a place we don’t have. We must work to build such a place if we hope to use it in time of crisis.
Daily meditation (or Lectio Divina) offers us the building material for such a room. Once we establish the practice of daily quieting our minds to think on bigger things, we will have such a space for when life gets hectic or troubling. And peace is not always overcoming anxiety or fear, but rather not letting anxiety or fear overcome us.
Peace is often portrayed as a romantic concept, one born of things always going right. Such portrayals, as we all know, is an illusion. The peace of the spiritual soul does not depend upon the externals going right, but in the heart putting a proper perspective on events. That is only possible when you have the interior room for prayer, reflection, meditation and communing with the Divine. For it is the Divine who gives us the ability to maintain such peace.