Peace is found in the consciousness of the allness of good. It is essentially spiritual and mental, and is forever possessed by man and the universe. It is not dependent upon material conditions or circumstances. Peace is something just between God and man—the consequence of man's coexistence and correlation with God. It is a quality of being which permeates all substance, Life, and Mind, accompanies all unfoldment of existence, and abides throughout eternity.
Peace cannot be disturbed or destroyed by trivial or cataclysmic mortal belief. It is not at the mercy of every passing wind. Peace is not a static state of unconsciousness, a quality of death, nor a condition of matter. Peace cannot be shaken, invaded, or removed. It is as fixed as God. It is an essential quality of His being. Peace is natural, inevitable, throughout creation, inasmuch as God's universe is His compound idea, which includes neither discord nor error. Peace is a quality of universal Life, evidencing the uncontested sovereignty, the changeless perfection, the ever-presence and omnipotence of Life.
War cannot limit peace. Divine Love with infinite mercy has made it an eternal characteristic of Life for man to reflect forever. Peace is an undying reality, not something defined on a scrap of paper. It is something lived, not something blueprinted. It cannot be defined by men, but was proclaimed by the Prince of Peace. At Jesus' birth shepherds heard its announcement, and this message is still audible to humble hearts. The soldier has heard its echo in the song of a lark between the cannon blasts. He has seen its promise in a fragrant flower lifting its head in a mine-sown field. The mariner has sensed its presence where stars lighted a convoy's way. The mother waiting and watching for a loved one's return has felt its tender embracement. The weary executive of a nation has found it closer than overwhelming responsibility.
Peace is a quality of the all-knowing Mind that knows only its own infinitude, the ever-presence of good. Peace is understood by men in proportion to their recognition of the unreality of evil. Mortal mind cannot manipulate peace to serve its own ends. Divine Mind possesses it always for the purpose of unfolding heaven. Peace is always appreciable to spiritual sense. A spiritual quality, it is nourished by divine Love, perpetuated by divine law, and manifested by man through reflection. Peace cannot be removed, or withdrawn, but can always be found in the coexistence of all identities that form the universe of Mind's creating.
Because man is forever at one with God, who is his Mind, his Life, substance, source, and condition, he is at peace. In the depth of his consciousness and the height of his majesty, peace forever reigns. Primarily and eternally man is at peace with himself and all creation, because he includes within himself all right ideas and has dominion over them. All his paths are paths of peace, because he is continuously and completely controlled by divine Science.
Peace is the very essence of man's being, because perfection is the nature of the I AM whom he reflects. This peace is stillness potential with unfoldment. Because man reflects all that God is, he is at peace, for he knows no desire, lack, or strife. Since nothing can be taken from him or added to him, he is at peace. Because he does not have to pass from one temporary stage of existence to another, but remains at the point of perfection, he is always at peace. His peace is that of divine Principle, scientific and perpetual, fundamental and changeless.
Peace and evil cannot coexist. Only as human consciousness forsakes belief in evil and materiality can it find peace. The great opportunity of the world today is to know the peace of God's creating, produced and maintained by spiritual law. The peace of divine Mind is the perpetual flowering of divine goodness. It fills the atmosphere of the spiritual universe, is the fundamental quality of the nature of all creation, and is reduced to human perception through Christian healing.
Peace is not fragile, evanescent, or illusive. It is mighty, dependable, abiding. Peace is not upset by evil, helpless before aggression, vanquished by force. It is immortally real and enduring, ever tributary to divine Principle and emanating therefrom. In the midst of the storm Jesus was conscious of peace, and the storm ceased. He was aware of it in the halls of justice, in the temple, in the market place. It was with him when he was alone and when he was in the midst of the crowds, when the rabbis challenged his doctrine and when he cast out seven devils. He kept the peace of God in social, civil, and religious contacts. Neither the advanced illness of his friend, Lazarus, the treacherous act of his pupil, Judas, the false ambitions of his disciples, nor untoward circumstances of any sort separated him for a moment from this quality of Life. He walked with peace from the manger to the ascension. To those who follow him he left this heritage (John 14:27): "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you."
How notably did our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, carry on this heritage of the Master. Sore and long were her trials, but she kept the peace of God under every provocation. May her adherents do likewise in all their walks of life, with Scientists and non-Scientists, with friends and strangers, when undergoing trials and in distress. "Of this we may be sure," Mrs. Eddy says, "that thoughts winged with peace and love breathe a silent benediction over all the earth, cooperate with the divine power, and brood unconsciously o'er the work of His hand" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 152).
He who keeps peace within himself, who expresses the peace of God, may he not be the peacemaker to whom Jesus referred? He who demonstrates the unreality of a power apart from God, who obeys the truth of being, who is yielding hourly to the reality of man as the likeness of God, is a mighty factor for peace in the world. Such peacemakers are needed much today. Changes in rulers, shifting of alliances, betterment of human governments will not ensure permanent peace to the world, but the awakening of mankind to the realization that man is the son of God will reveal the everlasting peace of God. Those who know and embody in some degree the spiritual nature of eternal peace are contributing invaluable and permanent assistance to humanity's progress out of chaos, for as our Leader has long since declared (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 277), "The characters and lives of men determine the peace, prosperity, and life of nations."
Today Christian Scientists have a tremendous responsibility as well as the opportunity of the ages. The revelation of Truth which has been vouchsafed to them is the most precious and potent possession on earth. To the extent that it is lived will the heaven of peace be manifested in our times. Of these days of world purification our Leader has prophesied (Science and Health, p. 96): "This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace." The side of peace is the side of spiritual existence. There is no peace, no safety or future, for false belief. Neither veneration, adoration, organization, nor education can save falsity. Truth alone will endure and with Truth is peace. Out of the tumult and shouting that throng the day may be heard the voice of Christian Science saying, Come unto me, all you who labor and are weary with the strife, and I will show you peace.
