{"id":63,"date":"2012-12-04T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/how-to-find-peace-this-christmas\/"},"modified":"2012-12-04T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-04T13:30:00","slug":"how-to-find-peace-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/how-to-find-peace-this-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"How to find peace this Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The blinking cursor greets me.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I find peace\u201d <\/i>I type slowly, feeling a little silly.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Here I am \u201cGoogling,\u201d a nonsensical word that would have inspired laughs and guffaws 10 years ago. Today, it\u2019s a part of our eeryday lexicon, a verb and a noun all in one.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I ask the ghost in the machine the question. \u00a0It takes Google all of .39 seconds to find more than 860 million results. \u00a0That won\u2019t do me much good.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>\u201cNarrow your search to get more accurate results\u201d<\/i> the help\u00a0\u00a0 button suggests.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
\u201cHow can I find peace this Christmas<\/b>?\u201d<\/i> I ask. After all, the carolers are reminding us, \u201cpeace on earth, good will toward man.\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
That more specific search \u00a0took .38 seconds to find 96 million results. That\u2019s not much better. Can peace be found with a simple Internet search?<\/i><\/b> It isn\u2019t like trying to find a way to remove rust deposits in the bathroom, or how to bake high altitude brownies.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Peace\u00a0 is something that has eluded the Ancients and haunted the moderns. Mystics have thought about, poets have pined for it and cholars have studied it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Some have sought it in a bottle or a pill. Some have tried to hunt it down with a relationship \u2013 or two or three. Some have turned to the religion of man, or a man of religion.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Searching for peace has pushed men to the mountaintop, to the jungle, and to the ocean. It\u2019s a quest that has gone on since the dawn of time. How can something so simple be so elusive?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And here I am, typing, asking an algorithm for the answer.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It\u2019s silly, really. There is really no short cut for contemplation. Information will not substitute for the long-suffering search that is often done is silence. And loneliness. And fear.<\/div>\n

There\u2019s a million reasons why peace shouldnt be found. There\u2019s my past, and that voice that reminds me of where I\u2019ve been and what I\u2019ve done. There\u2019s the world, that never gives up with the distressing song-and-dance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI waited patiently for the Lord,\u201d<\/i> said King David<\/a>. \u201cHow Long? <\/i>, he wondered.<\/p>\n

And so did I.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But deep in the soul, there\u2019s a Voice. It\u2019s beyond decibels, ringing out in unquenchable silence that rattles the heart. \u201cHe turned to me, and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit, out of the mud and mire.\u201d <\/i><\/div>\n
And it wasn\u2019t just a salvation, it was a restoration.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
\u201cHe set my feet\u00a0on a rock\u00a0and gave me a firm place to stand.\u00a0He put a new song\u00a0in my mouth,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a hymn of praise to our God. <\/i><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve found peace in those who love me, in a body of like-minded pilgrims, and in the gaze of a God who really does care.<\/p>\n

Yes. Peace on Earth. Good will to man.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I don\u2019t know how you got here. It\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0 by accident. I\u2019ve been where you are, looking for peace in all the wrong places.. Maybe you looked to Google and stumbled here. Maybe you\u00a0 need a friend to help you find it. Drop me a note<\/a> and we can talk .\u00a0 <\/b><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.\n

Read all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The blinking cursor greets me.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I find peace\u201d I type slowly, feeling a little silly. Here I am \u201cGoogling,\u201d a nonsensical word that would have inspired laughs and guffaws 10 years ago. Today, it\u2019s a part of our eeryday lexicon, a verb and a noun all in one. I ask the ghost in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to find peace this Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The blinking cursor greets me.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I find peace\u201d I type slowly, feeling a little silly. 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