By Paul Cutelli, Director of Technology

Peace – /pēs/ – noun – freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility.

In the tumult of everyday living, I have noticed I lack peace in my life. From the stresses of deadlines, troubling current events, dramas, and an inundation of information, I often find myself wanting to hide. So much in so in fact, I have caught myself habitually praying, with more than a little anger and frustration, “God, help me, give me some peace!”… with absolutely no intent in doing anything about it.

Only recently have I confessed to myself that I have been going about this whole “peace” thing wrong. For starters, I ought not to have been asking God to do all the work for me. I stumbled on this Bible verse while looking for ideas for peaceful meditation:

“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” –James 3:18

The word that had me musing was make, which was implying that peace is not merely something granted but something created and only after the work was done making it, enjoyed. Step one. I needed to make a conscious effort, not wait for it to come to me, but then next question: how does one actually go about making peace?

I was working through this problem last Sunday when I happened upon a radio show on KCUR with a guest speaker talking about the stoic philosopher Epictetus. I listened intently, thinking the conversation would have some deep thought and I was not disappointed:

“Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things.” –Enchiridion, Epictetu

True to his stoic title, Epictetus was reminding me that I was not supposed to let the “stuff” of the world get to me. After all, are not the external events of the world (mostly) beyond our control? I found some real grounding in these words, a truly viable second step. A sense of self-discovered peace for me, I realized, starts with being free from these disturbances.

So step one, realize peace is something you work for, and step two, don’t let the outside things crowd out the inside. From there, however, I confess that I am still figuring out step three.

I am curious, though, what steps do you take to find your inner peace? Or perhaps you are like me, trying to find your way on a path to quiet and tranquility, and we are journeying together. Either way, let’s look forward to calmer days ahead.