The Unbreakable Peace That is You

I know this is a trying time for so many. It’s definitely been trying for me.

I’ve been reflecting lately on how there’s a peace and wisdom available to all of us that’s unbreakable.

At one time, that may have felt like wishful thinking.

Now, I see how true it is, how elusive it can feel at times, and how powerful looking in that direction can be.

The truth of this unbreakable peace came most alive for me when I was interviewing Sammy Rangel, the Executive Director of Life After Hate.

He told me how he had been abused as a child, became homeless at 11, and found violence to be a form of self-protection.

After years of being in solitary confinement, he heard a knock on his door, which he thought he had imagined.

After meeting with the man who had knocked, something changed in him and he began feeling guilty when he was violent.

While he didn’t understand this at the time, this was a huge moment of change that started him on a completely different path where now he helps others come out of lives of hate.

As I listened to Sammy share so honestly, I saw something I hadn’t understood before.

The human spirit can’t be broken.

I had read Sammy’s autobiography, “Fourbears: Myths of Forgiveness” so I knew him to be a very loving brother as a kid.

When he shared that a knock on his door was the start of him remembering himself, it occurred to me that whatever is true about our deeper nature does not break.

It only took a respectful knock for him to begin remembering.

Our deeper nature may get covered by thoughts we rely on to get by or get through, but it isn’t broken and it’s always there.

It helps me to remember this in times like these when peace of mind can seem tricky or elusive.

It helps remind me that when I listen beyond the noisiness of my personal thinking, when I open up to the thoughts that are subtler and more helpful to me, I’m guided by that deeper nature.

This brings me hope that regardless of what outcomes await us, that this deeper nature will be there for me and anyone who wishes to rely on it, to respect it, and to have it as a companion as we do our best to contribute from its wisdom.

The noise and the chaos can be a reminder that rather than being on to something, I’m lost in thought. Shallow thought. Unhelpful thought. Distorted thought.

And that’s ok! That’s human. That will happen. There’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s just helpful to know that my coordinates are off so I can find my bearings again and remember the deeper wisdom that awaits when I listen for it.