“We can keep guard over the whole world by keeping guard over the atmosphere of heaven within us, for if we lose the Kingdom of Heaven, we will save neither ourselves nor others. He who has the Kingdom of God in himself will imperceptibly pass it on to others. People will be attracted by the peace and warmth in us; they will want to be near us, and the atmosphere of heaven will gradually pass on to them. It is not even necessary to speak to people about this. The atmosphere of heaven will radiate from us even when we keep silence or talk about ordinary things. It will radiate from us even though we may not be aware of it.” – Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
Do you find that when you are at peace with yourself, you tend to experience fewer conflicts or react differently to confrontational situations? Let me give you an example. When you are at peace, someone cutting you off in traffic might amuse you instead of making you angry. Ahh, she must be late with her meeting with the mayor! God bless her and get her there safely.
And the crazy thing is, you mean it! You don’t say this prayer for the sake of showing off your piety. There is no audience to impress.
Oh, but when you’re feeling upset or angry, that person who cut you off becomes your number one enemy! You have to refrain from speeding up and running them off the road, and instead settle with unleashing a string of expletives. You may even start to think that the other driver did it on purpose and that they, like everyone else, are conspiring against you. But let’s face it, that kind of thinking is silly.
Is the other person really the problem or is it your own emotions and reactions that are the problem?
One day, while walking through San Francisco’s financial district, I noticed a man in a suit who was speed walking down the sidewalk. He was talking rapidly on his cell phone and knocked over Paul’s coffee cup without saying a word. Paul is a homeless man who frequents Philz Coffee and enjoys sitting on the steps near a flower garden. I started to yell at the businessman to have some respect, but Paul raised his hand and signaled for me to stop.
“It’s okay,” he said. “That dude’s not on the sidewalk. He’s already on the top floor of some skyscraper sealing a deal. I don’t think he meant anything by it. If anything, I feel sorry for him.”
This response took me aback, and I asked him to explain.
“He might have it all on paper, but what does he know about this?” Paul gestured towards a nearby park where a group of homeless people were sitting together on a bench.
“Sure, you won’t catch me wearing any Tommy Hilfiger, but I have a group of brothers who would do anything for me. And on top of that, I have a mother who still loves me despite my mistakes. Odds are that man is working himself to the bone only to die alone. That hurts my heart. I hope I’m wrong. Let’s pray that he meets a nice girl today. The love of his life!”
I used to be into manifestation and the law of attraction. Whenever someone mentioned the word ‘pray’, it gave me the creeps. I told Paul that I didn’t know how to pray.
He replied, “Oh yes, you do. When you are on a plane, and it takes off, you think, ‘This thing better not go down. Let’s make it there safely.’ When you walk home late at night, you think, ‘I hope I don’t get robbed.’ Maybe your favorite sports team is in the Super Bowl, and you cross your fingers for the fourth quarter. Or your thoughts are with a co-worker whose husband just passed away. You are praying, brother, you just don’t know who you’re talking to.”
“It is not true that you cannot get along with anyone. You just cannot get along with yourself. Our thoughts determine our whole life. If our thoughts are destructive, we will have no peace. If they are quiet, meek, and simple, our life will be the same, and we will have peace within us. It will radiate from us and influence all beings around us.”
If you have ever worked as a barista, you must have learned not to take yourself too seriously. During the rush hour, you may get humbled. The atmosphere of a café can change in a matter of seconds. The mood of the customer can affect you. Perhaps someone makes a rude comment because they had to wait longer than usual, or they get angry because their drink is not right, and they are a regular, and you should know their order. Maybe they are just upset because you ran out of oat milk, and they don’t like soy milk. Or it could be the fact that they are working a soul-sucking job, or their dog died, or their mother is terminally ill, and they are not okay but pretending to be.
Far too often, we snap back and respond with a rash action, thinking that we are getting our revenge. Ahh, I showed them. But after they leave, the satisfaction subsides and the rest of the shift is horrible and you can’t wait to get off work. Maybe you had plans to meet with friends, but now you just go home, pour a drink, and binge Netflix. The night is ruined, deadened by one interaction. One thought.
When we maim our neighbor we maim ourselves.
“A person who is entrapped in the vicious cycle of chaotic thoughts, in the atmosphere of hades, or has only so much as touched it, feels the torments of hell. For example, we read the newspapers or take a walk in the streets, and afterwards we suddenly feel that something is not quite right in our souls; we feel an atmosphere; we feel sadness. That is because by reading all sorts of things, our mind becomes distracted and the atmosphere of hades has free access to our minds.”
Jesus says the joke is on us. We are to love our enemies. Remember, that neighbor you refer to as ‘the antichrist’ because she voted for the rival political party? Well, guess what she’s made in the image of God too, and believe it or not she’s more than just her politics.
What do people protest? An idea. What do people fight against? An idea. Who gets hurt? People. Many innocent bystanders are a product of a warped perception.
Yes, Elder Thaddeus, our thoughts do determine our lives.
Pray for us.
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