Saturday, January 5, 2013

Peace Within

image from worldpeacediet.com

There is only one place where peace
can be found:
within the human heart,
when one learns to be comfortable
inside one's skin 
(which can take half a lifetime).

When one accepts herself and her own failings,
Compassion towards others increases.
We are all cracked vessels,
that whatever light 
we can muster
shines through.

When one learns
the peaceful acceptance
of Whatever Comes,
one imagines, at least,
that she can accept death, too - 
perhaps not others' death,
as easily,
but one's own.
Given so many are dying
all around us,
we know one day
our turn will surely come,
sometimes sooner 
than one would wish.

I have watched people 
pass through 
the end of this life,
and enter the next.
And there is a holiness,
at the end,
that lights the room,
as the spirit makes its passage.

The eyes light up
with wonder,
a hand reaches out
towards whomever
is greeting them
and, as the spirit slips away,
what is left behind
is simply a vessel,
newly empty.

In believing that our souls  go on,
that perhaps we have lived before
and will live again,
yes, therein lies
peace.

Mary Kling, tending the bar at dVerse tonight, has set us the prompt: Peace. Well, there are many roads to peace, and there are many topics with peace as the only hope. But, we all eventually discover, the first place to find it is within. 

20 comments:

  1. Yes, Sherry, we all somehow have to find peace within our heart so that we can be at peace with our living and also with the possibility of dying.....all part of the cycle of life every living being follows. And yes, our souls will go on.....I believe!

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  2. This is lovely Sherry ~

    To accept oneself and one's eventual death as part of our journey ~ I like to think our souls live and go on to another phrase ~

    Happy weekend ~

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  3. It always begin within, doesn't it Sherry. It is always an individual choice. Blessings to you! <3!

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  4. when one learns to be comfortable inside one's skin... this sums up everything we look for peace...it indeed should start within the innerself...then it grows...grows...grows...and multiply...from people to people...nature to nature...nature to people...& people to nature... Excellent offering...smiles...

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  5. smiles...i have seen many come and go myself...and there is a certain beauty at that time...hard to see when the emotions get in the way...i really like your thoughts on acceptance though...smiles...it does start with each of us...

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  6. I saw/felt the Light and Glow you point to twice, with two elderly Quakers--They had been married to each other, but Lib outlived Ken by 16 years. Because they were each ready, because they had God within, their peace touched all who came near them. I do not fear the end, but I am very far from ready . . .

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  7. I like the imagery in the last two stanzas the most but it is altogether a great piece. :)

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  8. I knew your post would tug my heart and I was right, again--twice in one week, I am on a roll.

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  9. SO beautiful Sherry. The second-to-last stanza was my favorite :)

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  10. I totally agree with you Sherry. Peace is within. Sometimes it's so hard to awaken it. Easy when things are going well, but when things aren't it's so hard to maintain that faithful, even, serene awareness of all being the way it needs to be. I have much work to do to arrive at a constant state of peace.

    But, I do wish - peace be with us.

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  11. If it's only taken you half a lifetime to discover this, then you're a far smarter person than me!!

    Peace is the result of accepting what we cannot change (like our inevitable deaths) and changing what we cannot accept.

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  12. So true...so beautifully put, Sherry. Truly, if we can face death with peace and acceptance, we can fully have peace in life.

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  13. Yes, peace starts within each one of us. Your words are comforting. I watched my mother pass and then knew she was at peace for what I believe was the first time in her life.

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  14. A pretty, thoughtful poem. Thanks. k.

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  15. I enjoyed traveling along on your journey with the word peace. And I agree that in the end there must be peace.

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  16. very beautifully said.. The fact that it can take a lifetime finding this peace is what keeps us going on ...

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  17. wouldn't it be great if we could find peace in ourselves without taking half a lifetime?!

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  18. Oh, Sherry- There is peace with that knowledge... that there is more.

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