[Pearls Ep. 120: Answering Atheism Tuesday]
Last week we noted that peace is closely tied to order, in fact Augustine described peace as the “tranquility of order.”
But as we also saw – not all order is created equal. Genuine order is divine order – that is the order that leads to Christ’s peace, because it places God’s will above all else.
Let’s see how this plays out in society.
First there is Marxism in all its various trimmings- communism, socialism, so-called democratic socialism, and so on. There are many who look at this, particularly as enforced in China, and say “look at the high level of social order that comes with centralized planning, and the peace that comes with it!”
Not so. That is not order and peace – it is tyranny and oppression.
True peace only grows from the good soil of freedom – it is a bottom-up approach, not top down. Why? This brings us to the Catholic understanding of subsidiarity – that every social issue should be resolved at the most local level possible. And the most fundamentally local unit is the individual – each of us doing our best to properly order ourselves. And then comes, in order, the family, local communities, towns, counties, states and finally the country.
What does it mean to be “properly ordered”? Well, because of the fall, as individuals and as a society we are hopelessly disordered when left on our own (this is the entire story of the Old Testament and most of world history for that matter). We need to be ordered to God individually and as a society. A society that doesn’t accept that we are “one nation under God” and the 10 Commandments – as a bare minimum – will never be a society at peace. That is all there is to it. And that is like physically living on bread and water – just enough to survive. If we really want to flourish as a society we need Christ and the fullness of His Truth (e.g. living out the two great commandments and beatitudes).
So, what exactly is “the peace the world gives?” Well, it seems to come in two flavors – conformity and insulation. Conformity – “go along with us and we won’t cancel you.” And insultation – gain enough money and power (promotion at work, social media followers, etc) and you’ll be safe from harm. The two lies of this is that it will bring real peace (it won’t) and that we’re in control (we aren’t).
Peace is found in a Person. This is why the world cannot give Christ’s peace – or take it away. As Christ Himself says, “the world does not know Me.”
And that’s why Jesus makes this encouraging statement – “do not let your heart be troubled.” Jesus shows us that in a certain sense we are in control of our peace – so long as we stay close to Christ, the world cannot take away our peace.
This is the peace of Jesus even while on trial in Pilate’s corrupt court. This is the peace of St. Maximilian Kolbe in the concentration camp. This is the peace of St. Ignatius of Antioch before being martyred in the Roman Colosseum. Just like them, there is no reason for our peace to be disturbed even when the political class and the elites who pull their strings continue to peddle fear on top of fear.
Holding onto peace is as simple as holding onto Jesus (particularly through meditation). The challenging part for most people is that means letting go of any tethers we have to the false peace and security of the world. Here’s to letting go…
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: “My peace I give to you.” Jn 14:23-29
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”