Peace Extended

I was exhausted from a day at work and flustered by my children’s exhaustion at the end of a bitterly cold week. And that was before we ventured out to the Cub Scout’s annual Pinewood Derby, an event that, although fun for the kids, tested every bone in my body that longed for peace and order.

While the scouts excitedly raced their cars down the track, the background noise of those watching grew louder. Before long, the voices of those running the event were shouting. It was past my daughter’s bedtime. My older son realized that his favorite book was in Dad’s car and Dad had left early for a funeral visitation. Everyone left mad about something or just plain tired.

After this spent parent herded three spent children into the house from the garage, we took off our coats, hats and shoes. It was after I had taken off my own boots that I experienced the unexepected. Still wearing her lavender Frozen mittens, Miriam reached out and grabbed my right hand. Then she shook it vigorously and said, “Peace be with you.”

In her book In the Midst of Chaos: Caring for Children as Spiritual Practice, author Bonne J. Miller-McLemore quotes Gertrude Lundholm:

Many Christians seem to think that the peace of God is just about their own internal peace of mind, as if being a Christian is kind of like being on a tranquilizer. But God intends to stir us up….to make us notice new things, to keep us from being complacent (In the Midst of Chaos, p.16).

Sometimes we are given a right spirit when we least expect it. Miller-McLemore challenges the notion that we find spirituality by going off to pray in undisturbed silence. Without discounting the need for this, she also reminds us of the Spirit’s presence in the midst of chaos. Miriam’s sign of peace made palpable the Spirit’s presence for me tonight. What was that presence for you today, that moment that caused you to notice the “new thing” springing forth from the daily chaos?