Peace, Safety ...

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.  (Proverbs 28:26)

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

I’ve shared this idea before, probably more than once, but a question with which I answered it has inspired some additional thoughts, so I’m sharing it again, with the additional thoughts so it’s all in one place. I’m beginning to think I need to write a novel based on this idea.

If you walk into a river, you’ll feel the current against your legs. Assuming that the water is deep enough to require swimming, if you try to cross the river to a spot upstream, you will find yourself fighting the current to reach that spot, and you may find yourself downriver a great distance. If you try to swim directly across, the same will happen. Even if you try to reach a spot downriver, you’ll have to fight to go across, and not stay in the channel. To be at true peace with the river, one must cease to impose one’s will on the river, and let it take you where it may, or at the very least, to work in concert with the river (crossing so that the current taking you downstream takes you where you want to go with minimal effort on your part.

In other words, peace requires acceptance and even submission. To find peace amidst a pandemic requires acceptance of the pandemic - a willingness to even endure the disease ourselves. I’m not saying we go maskless and kiss everyone we meet. I’m talking about the attitude that what is going on is. Raging against it is about as useful as trying to swim upstream in a flash flood oceanward during a tsunami.

There is wisdom needed here, though. Peace doesn’t involve throwing our brains in the trash. There are times when we find ourselves caught in two streams. One flows in the direction of goodness, the other in the direction of evil. We must remain at peace with one or the other but doing so requires that we struggle against the flow of the other. Another issue is that we encounter others who are also swimming, and some of them may be drowning. Saving a drowning person takes skill that we need to develop because otherwise, we’re likely to drown trying to help them. Some of the swimmers may insist that you’re going the wrong way. You can try to convince them they’re wrong, but if you try to force them to swim your way, you’ll lose your peace. (Changing the analogy, think of herding cats.) In a part of a river that has rapids (crises), you’ll likely find that you face a challenge in swimming yourself, and in protecting those nearest you - you certainly cannot pay attention to everyone around you.

Another factor with swimming in the river is that it requires that you learn to swim. To be at peace also requires that you learn about the river, and about the water. You need to learn what to wear before you begin your swim. Some clothes are better for swimming than others. If the water is too cold, you may need a wetsuit to preserve body heat. A wetsuit might also be needed if the river carries contaminants that will harm your skin. You need to know when to get out of the river (thunderstorms! floods)

It’s wise to learn to tell a log from an alligator from a crocodile; a rock from a hippopotamus, and the fin of a dolphin from the fin of a shark or an orca (yes, I know - I’m stretching the metaphor.) It’s wise to know whether you’re likely to encounter perch or piranhas. Learning these practical things will teach you how to protect yourself.