Peace of Soul

In the fifties, the book, Peace of Soul by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was a best seller. If you can find a copy of it, you would find its message as relevant and assuring today as it was then. The search for peace of soul is universal and necessary, especially in today's tumultuous times.
Jesus, knowing the disciples' anxiety over the future, especially his absence after the Ascension, said to them, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. (Jn 14: 27). When he appears to them after the resurrection, again it's, :Peace be with you." (Jn 20:19), for he knew their confusion and mixed emotiions. He had to restore them to peace so that hey could receive him and be ready for their mission.
Noted French spiritual director, Fr. Francis Philippe, use the image of a lake to help describe the necessity for peace. When the waters are calm, the sun beams off the surface like diamonds, in full blinding radiance as if we were looking directly at the sun. When the wind is blowing and the lake surface is churning with white caps, the sun's light is so distorted that it cannot be reflected.
So too, the soul, when at peace, is much more apt to reflect the God than when it is agitated.
Jesus knows us as he knew his disciples and offers us his peace daily. May we be wise enough to accept it.
Bro. Rene