There can seem to be an enormous distance between today’s lesson and the world we encounter in the news.

The lesson does not ask us to pretend the world looks peaceful. It invites us to listen beneath its noise—and beneath our own fearful thoughts—to the peace God has already placed within us.

That peace is as near as the next heartbeat.

Each beat quietly calls the Name of God. Each breath brings strength we do not have to create for ourselves. As we rest there, we no longer add our fear to the fear of the world. Because minds are joined, every return to peace becomes part of its healing.

Today, perhaps we need only place a hand upon the heart, breathe, and listen:

My heart is beating in the peace of God.