Peace - Dec. 10

Storms are a part of life. Storms of fear and anger and regret and betrayal... storms at home, at school, our jobs, and sometimes even our families. The scriptures tell us of Christ calming the tempest and remind us that He can calm all of our storms and offer a light in the darkness.

Tonight we read:

Matthew 8:23-26

23 ¶ And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24 And, behold, there arose a great ^atempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye ^afearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and ^brebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the ^alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a ^acandle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your ^alight so shine before men, that they may see your good ^bworks, and ^cglorify your Father which is in heaven.

And Ether 6: 4-9 (emphasis is mine)

4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of ^afood, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and ^bwhatsoeverbeast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them—and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.

5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a ^afurious wind blow upon the face of the waters, ^btowards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.

7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being ^atight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ^bark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were ^adriven forth before the wind.

9 And they did ^asing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did ^bthank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.

First we talked about some of the storms we have weathered, especially school and friend storms. Middle school can be hard. Being 12 can be hard. We discussed some people who have a calming influence and what that quality looks like. How could we be more peaceful and calming? We made a list. Maybe that should go in the Christmas journal as well...

We read one of my all time favorite stories. This story has come to my mind through so many storms.

The Meaning of Peace There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace. Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace." --- Author Unknown Our song today was "Master, the Tempest is Raging" The activity for today was to listen to sacred Christmas music all day. I sat for an hour and a half tonight listening to beautiful, peaceful music. Music is such a miracle to me. It can speak to a soul like nothing else. Sometimes I listen to Christmas music "out of season" just to get that 'everything is right with the world' hopeful feeling I get when I listen to Joy to the World or Come Let Us Adore Him or Silent Night. Our challenge tonight was to lengthen our prayers. Ryan said a lengthy prayer family prayer and it was the first time that it felt like he was really talking with the Lord, instead of just to the Lord. I am grateful for today's challenge. Merry Christmas!