The most challenging thing to grasp in this world is the idea that “Peace comes from within.” If you feel distraught, angry, ashamed, unworthy, guilty, disappointed or jealous, how could you ever imagine that Peace comes from within? If your “within” feels like a snake pit, how could you ever think that your “within” is the place where Peace will emerge in your life? It’s the ultimate challenge and the most deliberate paradox.
And yet, Peace comes from within.
Peace cannot be gotten from the outside.
You cannot go to the teacher to get your Peace.
You cannot go to the bank or the doctor to get your Peace.
It is already pre-installed awaiting your choosing it.
It is there where the snake pit appears to be.
The snakes are not real.
Only Peace is real.
Each day I hear the hiss and rattle of a snake long forgotten. Every day offers me an opportunity to be the healing presence in my own life. Each snake would, if I let it, occupy my attention and try to convince me it is real and powerful. Instead, I am more interested in Peace. With each and every snake I have the opportunity to choose Peace or to validate the snake. I can either feed the snake or dissolve it.
The snake is not wrong or bad or evil. It is nothing.
Today I choose Peace with my mind, with strong intention and ever-increasing willingness. I choose Freedom. I choose Love, for that is my true nature. Today I am willing to discover the Peace that passeth human understanding is within and only within.
