Peace Be With You

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24:36-53 

The thing we need the most and we often have the least is peace. We  tremble from pressures inside and out and live in a world where many live in constant fear. Some fear those who are different from them. Others believe themselves to be better than others and want to keep the less-thans at a distance. The ones who shove people away have no peace, just control, which is no substitute for peace.

Jesus settles in with his disciples for a small meal. They have greeted him with fear and anxiety. He blessed them and sent them to remain where they were until they received power. The peace he gave the was the peace of patient waiting, of remaining with joy in the spot they were placed. Peace in lives might just be the cessation of competition, striving and impatience. We live in a world that drives us to stress and fear. God invites us today to remain and find peace.

Today I ask God to help me accept the moments and the places I find myself. May the places be wait be those where we will some day receive power, In the meantime, may we luxuriate in peace.