A Balm of Peace

[Restlessness - XV]

Sometimes circumstance demands restlessness.

My friend Garret had a moment like that.

A few years ago, I woke up in the morning following a conversation with my father. He called my wife and me to bravely break the news that he had been diagnosed with cancer. As my groggy mind pondered the road my father was about to walk, as I considered that there was a near future without him, my bed began to acquire the gravity of 10 suns. My body was clung to the mattress, held there by my anxious, sad, scared, angry, frustrated, doubt riddled thoughts running loops in mind. I was immobilized. If I lost my dad, I wasn’t sure my heart could take it.

In moments of extreme gravity, we need a balance to restlessness. Not to nullify it. Not to deny it. But to address it with a potent, calming balm.

Garret's balm is the words of Jesus: “Peace be with you.”

Peace.
Peace to your mind that is racing.
Peace to your body seems chained to your bed.
Peace to your heart that is breaking.

It’s the spirit of this peace that is both the balm for his restlessness and the power that led Garret’s dad through his journey with cancer . . . and it is the same spirit that gives [my dad] peace as a cancer survivor for the last 5 years.