Stillness is not the absence of sound or movement. It is the quiet within us when we are no longer struggling with what we see, no longer insisting that the world conform to our expectations.

Today's lesson invites us to experience the world through Christ's vision rather than through the judgments and grievances of the past. This vision does not deny what happens in the world. It simply asks us to look beyond appearances and remember the love that remains unchanged in everyone.

Forgiveness makes this possible. Each grievance we release opens a little more space in our minds for peace. We need not excuse another's behavior or abandon healthy boundaries. We are simply invited to stop allowing our judgments to determine what is true about them—or about ourselves.

And perhaps we need not work so hard at finding peace. We can become willing to receive it.

Today, we are asked to let our thoughts be guided by God rather than by fear. To rest in a presence that has never left us.

The world may continue moving around us, but within us there can be stillness.

And from that stillness, we can see with love.