Peacekeepers

We must strive to be peacekeepers in our relationships. Don't let others steal your peace and insert rage or other unstable feelings. While anger is not invalid, don't let it pollute your soul. Use it to develop not to destroy. May your goal be to improve the relationship not make yourself feel better by venting everything that frustrates you in an outburst. Stay cool and calm, maintain the peace in your soul and let the energy that wants to turn into rage or poisonous words become the fuel for a productive answer to the problem.

There will inevitably be people who want to rob you of that peace in your soul. They will assail your wall with words and sometimes even physical contact. They will use powers to manipulate your emotions and get you to give in to festering impulses. If you submit to this process and allow yourself to lured into the snare, you will find the worst part of yourself being fed. There is a darkness inside us all. Like the Jedi say, "we must ever be vigilant and purge ourselves of the darkness within." The Jedi realize that there is nature within all sentient life that is destructive. This is true for us humans. It says in the Bible, "that the flesh wars against the spirit." There is a sinful nature inside us all. It seeks to dominate our lives and make us feed our most depraved desires. It is this which we must struggle against daily. It is never fully conquered, it will haunt us tell we die. Yes Christ prevailed over this sinister flesh, he saved us from It's complete power, but he has not purged it influence from our lives. It still lies dormant, lurking in the confines of our minds and souls. It seeks the opportunity to act and seize control of us.

To combat this innate evil, we must mediate before the Lord and find solace in the Scriptures. We must become disciplined and rule over our emotions. We must become intimate with the nature of God and as his character floods our inner being, the darkness will be expelled. Sometimes it will put up a fight and resist God's influence, it will wage war with the Spirit and we are warned that it isn't weak, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." This means we may have righteous intentions, we may desire to do good deeds, but sin can enter everything and take over. Even the spiritual can become tainted by the insidious nature. It can turn the tools to develop a deeper connection with the divine into religious practices that lead you to the flesh. Quickly you will feel yourself beginning to dry up, your peace will flee, and critical thoughts will abide in your mind. You will become a slave of sin in another way using the articles of the faith as means to self protect, but in so doing you actually become a pawn of the devil. To repel this nature we must put our trust in the Lord and not in rituals, men, or our own self. Everything is corruptable except for Christ.

Maintaining the peace inside your soul and then keeping peace with others is the ultimate goal. It is not easy to weather an insult or to repay evil with good. When people smite you or seek to harm you, you naturally want to strike back. You cry "an eye for an eye!" However, if you do submit to the passionate malice you find yourself akin to them. You have become the very thing you sought to destroy. You become insulting, vexing, and cruel. You become a clone of that corrupt individual. Instead, strive to keep the peace. Don't let the arrows provoke you. Don't let the snigh remarks and contentious attitudes of others rob you of that inner tranquility. Let your love and compassion prevail over their hate and bitterness. If they will not cease trying to scorn you, then remove yourself. It says in Proverbs, "the bad apple spoils the whole bunch." If you stay with cruel and calliced council you will find yourself quickly becoming like them. There is a time to leave those who persecute you, a time to take action and stop them from inflicting more pain. In these moments were are to "dust off our feet and move on."

Our goal is to be light in this dark world. To show people what is right, to immulate Christ and show them what God is truly like. I like how Yoda puts it, "To be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night." (Star Wars Dark Rendezvous). We must choose who we will be. Will we be a candle, a light showing the way to eternal life or will we be the shadows that seek selfish delights and to snuff out the light? Are we going to be the Guardians of Peace or the Creators of Chaos? Each person must decide for themselves. But let it be known you can only choose one side. For the Master, the Lord himself said, "You can serve only one of two masters, you will love one and hate the other, you can either serve God or Mammon." (Matthew 6:24). Will you keep the peace or indulge the destructive nature? Will you let that light "shine so before men" or will you let it fade beneath a cloud?