The secret to peace is to open the crack between the past and the future and live in the moment we are in. ~ Rev. Charles M. Taylor
How many times have you heard, ‘your thoughts create your life?” The thoughts we focus on the most are the ones that influence our emotional states, our behaviors, actions and the results in our lives. Some thoughts are empowering and support us in creating productive, magical and fulfilling lives.
Other thoughts are debilitating, creating stress and suffering, while stifling our growth, happiness and progress. Some thoughts are based in reality, other thoughts are made up in the mind and not true.
Can you identify with this quote from Mark Twain – ‘I spent half my life worrying about things that never happened.’ How many of us spend our time regretting the past or worrying about the future when the present moment just slips by with a kind of subtle or not so subtle indifference? Why do so many of us live in fear and worry when there is a better way? What is a better way?
Next time you find yourself regretting the past or worrying about the future remember this – you can’t change the past or force the next moment to come sooner, so don’t worry about it right now. One thing I practice and live by is the “The Serenity Prayer”
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference.”
This is one way to open that crack. So, the next time you have to wait in a long line and you are in a hurry, use this free time as an opportunity to take notice of the world and affirm this prayer. This is a path to peace. Remember, how we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
Why do I share this? Because there is so much talk in the news about peace, world peace in particular. I have discovered that world peace begins with individual peace.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the man who came home from a busy day and wanted some quiet, but his son wanted his attention. Thinking it would give him some time, the father saw a magazine with the picture of the world, cut it up and gave it to his son to put together.
The son, however; came back in a minute. Surprised, of course, the father asked the son how he put it together so fast. The son said, “Oh, it was easy Dad. On the other side is a picture of a man. I knew if I put the man together, the world would be together.”
And that is the secret to world peace. When the individual is at peace the world will be at peace. Open that crack and practice being here now.
Rev. Charles Taylor is the interim Senior Minister at the Universal Truth Center, 21310 NW 37th Ave, Miami Gardens. He may be reached at 305-624-4991 or Charles@utruthcenter.org.
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