Peace On Earth
Imagine today is your last day on Earth.
You have twenty-four hours to live.
Twenty-four hours in which to prepare for your final journey. That journey from which no traveler ever returns. What will you do? How will you spend that final day?
If you”re like most people, your primary concern will be to die in peace. At peace with yourself, and at peace with your
Creator. To accomplish this task, maybe you’ll want to make some small gesture, bestow some gift, or perform some random act of grace or mercy in order to leave the world a better place than when you found it.
I once had a friend who declared that if allowed, he could at last bring about peace in the middle-east. Then I reminded him of his decades-long estrangement from his brother over a real-estate deal gone south. The amount of money in dispute over the deal was less than a thousand dollars.
Maybe twenty-four hours isn’t enough time to bring about world peace, or to otherwise change the world. But it’s plenty of time to change your world. Is there someone you need to reconcile with? Someone you need to forgive? A debt owed, but never paid, perhaps? Maybe you’re estranged from an old friend or family member and can’t even remember why.
The Bible says don’t let the sun go down on your anger.
So if there’s someone you need to reconcile with, someone you need to forgive, or obtain forgiveness from, then go and do it. Today. Do not wait a moment longer.
For to heal a broken relationship is to heal your very soul.
To bind up old wounds that even years later still divide, to reestablish a broken relationship that was once tender and loving, is one of the kindest things we can do for ourselves. One of the greatest words in the English language (or any other language, for that matter) is forgiveness.
For-give.
To give for.
But to give for what? That’s the question.
I’d venture a guess – to give for peace. Peace of mind. And peace of heart. For no one who harbors ill will in their hearts can be at peace.
It is true forgiveness requires great love, courage, and humility. Then there’s no guarantee the person you seek to reconcile with will either grant you forgiveness or accept your forgiveness. But surely the payoff in peace you’ll receive in return will make it worth the effort. And while most of us assume we have plenty of time left in our lives in which to accomplish such tasks, tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Let us not, therefore, continue to put off until tomorrow, a small act of grace that would make the world – your world – a better place today.
For those of us aspiring to change the world, there’s no better place to start than our own little corner of it.
Spencer Lane Adams
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01/2022
Letting Go of the Past
As we walk along the path of life, steadfast in courage, strong in will, each and every mile we travel takes us further away from the pain of our past. But make no mistake. To get past the mountain of adversity, you must climb it—one foot in front of the other, and if necessary, one day before the next.
Yet every moment we linger, looking back in sorrow for what might have been or what could have been, is one more precious moment lost to the darkness. For just as time marches ever forward, so too must we live our lives—heart, mind, and soul—focused always on the future, on that glorious destination awaiting us all, if we do not falter and we do not fail. And by glorious I speak not of world-conquering generals, Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, or preening rockstars basking in an illusory light of fame. Rather, I speak of the glory of the everyday man or woman, the commoners who, coming to the end of their journey, are able to die well, because they have lived well.
And though your eyes be ever on the destination, do not blind yourself to this day’s journey. Because it is our journey after all, which makes the destination so sweet. Each and every day of our journey, if we but open our eyes, we shall find a lesson. A lesson to treasure and to hold deep within our hearts, to help us along the way.
Some of these lessons may be pleasant. But more often than not, the best ones will be painful. Do not turn away. Know that with the pain will come sorrow. Touch it, feel it, embrace it if you must. But above all, learn from it. Then move on, just as life moves on.
And should a day come when you find yourself trapped in the pain, unable to learn the lessons that it’s trying to teach you, know this: That it is you and only you, who clings to it. Like an old friend you cannot bear to part with, you carry it upon your shoulders from one day to the next, weary and worn from the effort.
Leave it!
Lay it down!
Let go of it!
For if today you let go of the past—really let it go—then tomorrow you shall find that your pain is diminished. Then a week, or month, or year from now you will be that much further from it. But if and only if, you lay it down today.
And if you stay strong, if you persist and persevere, then one day you shall look back and thank God almighty for giving you the gift of your struggle. Because it is only when we struggle the most that we grow strongest. To our surprise, we shall find that in our weakness, we were made stronger. And in our foolishness, we were made wiser. For it is only when we ourselves have experienced weakness and foolishness—those all-too-human failings that we all partake of—that we are able to learn compassion and forgiveness for the weakness and foolishness in others.
For without forgiveness, there can be no love. And without love, there can be no forgiveness. Therefore, let the past be past, and remember this: It is love that endures. Even if man does not, our love endures. For though our lives are but a twinkling in the vastness of eternity, our love goes on forever.
Spencer Lane Adams
—
8/13/2018
Thus Spoke the Lord
Do you love me, Father?
“I love you, my son.”
Then grant me my will.
“Free will, I give to thee.”
Thus spoke the Lord.
And it’s mine to use as I please?
“Why no,” replied my Father,
“Reproof, I will also give to thee.”
Reproof? I asked my Father,
Please explain that word to me,
“It’s a rod to guide your ways, my son,
“That you’ll more clearly see.”
A rod? I asked my father,
You’ve confused me once again.
“It is a punishment to lead you,
“Back to me again.”
Thus spoke the Lord.
Yet how shall I discern this rod?
Asked I unto the Lord.
“It is a pain that you shall feel,
but yet, in time, a pain that heals.”
Thus spoke the Lord.
Yet time and time again, I felt that pain
I heard His voice. And yet I took no heed,
Because I thought it was my choice.
“Listen closely,” said my Father,
As I now bowed down in sorrow.
“It is not pain I wish to give,
“But yet a lesson for tomorrow,
That you might yet still learn to live.”
“For when I granted you free will,
I did not wish for it to be,
That you would walk in darkness, son,
Or stray so far from me.
For I gave you will to freely choose,
And thus be truly free,
To choose what’s right, and shun the wrong,
And turn your heart to me.
Thus spoke the Lord.
My Lord spoke it unto me.
Spencer Lane Adams
What Path Are You On?
So where are you on your path?
Are you choosing to focus on what is positive and most productive in your life?
On creating, building, and contributing to society and those around you?
On love, friendship, and harmony with the people around you?
May we daily utilize our God-given intelligence to make the right choices. May we see each and every day as an opportunity. An opportunity to redeem ourselves from past mistakes.
And if, in the past, we have harmed ourselves through poor choices, or the darkness of addiction, may we now see clearly the hurt we have caused ourselves and society, and therefore choose the higher path of sobriety and integrity.
Let us, from this day forth, put the past behind us, and choose light over darkness, truth over lies, and life over death.