I suppose that we need, from time to time, some sort of sublime moment. Something transcendent, beyond the ordinary. Something to remind us that not all of life is mundane. There’s also a certain value in those especially invigorating experiences. We don’t have to be adrenaline junkies to appreciate the spike and spur in the feel good charge of something that is exciting to us. I’ve never gone hang-gliding, bungee jumping or free-styled up the side of a vertical rock race overhanging a thousand-foot cliff. But I do enjoy the slight rush of working my way up the side of a steep bank and standing on its edge with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.

Great experiences are… well… great!

We also need those moments of quiet reflection. Time to sit on a flat boulder at the edge of a calm lake and study the shapes of trees silhouetted against a dusky sky. Time to study the reflections of autumn sumac reflected in the face of the water. Time to consider that we are quite small in the scale of the universe yet intimately known and loved by its Designer. Time to think and time to not think. Time to be in the moment, appreciate the moment, even treasure it without grasping on to it so tightly that we lose it before it even passes.

We need times of peace and calm and quietness. In fact, our need for them is so great that we should not wait and hope they come to us. We must seek them out, absorb their grace and let them soothe our spirits and anoint our hearts. In those moments and in the wellspring they provide, we can become fountains of peace that bless the lives of others.

Peace passed on, peace shared, peace treasured. May this be yours today and may you share its blessing tomorrow in the way you treat others.

H. Arnett
10/21/15