Peacefinding Pointer

Last night, several good friends and I attended a nice little workshop-type dealio, wherein was discussed the topic of peace—its sources, how to obtain it, and how it doesn’t always mean “the absence of war.”

Since there strangely was no opportune moment during the workshop to share a personal experience, I’d like to share it here.

February 27, 2010—Utah. ‘Twas the wee small hours of the morning on a Saturday. “Wee” means sometime between 3:00 and 4:00am. I was slumbering at my family’s house, and I was out like a light, up until the point my mom came in to gently shake me awake and tell me that an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck right near the place where my younger brother was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was alarmed enough to make the lickety-split decision that I had slept long enough. I hopped out of bed and followed my mom downstairs to where a TV was blaring breaking news about central Chile’s urgent state. Our TV stayed on for hours, because we wanted to keep ourselves in the loop as best we could. We waited and waited for some sort of clue that my brother and his mission companion were alright. The clue kept on not coming, and I began to feel too anxious to keep watching the tube, so I chose to escape for a tiny bit.

I drove a short ways to a local park that was endowed with dozens of big, tall trees. Upon arrival, I got out of my car, walked over to one tree on the east side, wrapped myself up in a huge cozy blanket, and sat on the dead grass with my back leaning against the tree’s trunk. No one else was in sight. No one typically goes to the park on a chilly winter afternoon. This was the perfect chance for me to strike up a conversation with God.

I told Him about the concerns of the day, and then I made myself as still as possible as I awaited His reply, which sweetly came mere seconds later by way of the Holy Ghost: “Whatever happens, everything will turn out alright.” Very few words, but it was all I needed to hear in order to find peace in the currently crazy South American situation.

Nothing in that divine reply referred to anything about the status of my brother’s physical well-being. Neither I nor anyone else definitely knew he was still healthy as a horse. All was still mysterious, and danger was still existing, but peace was still available. And peace was what my family and I had lodged pleasantly in our souls as we stayed prayerful.

The cherry atop this sundae of a peaceful situation is the phone call we received a day or two later—from my missionary brother! He called to say he and his companion were okay! In fact, I think I remember learning that all missionaries there were okay. This warranted some jollity, as well as another dose of thanks to God.

And thus endeth my personal attestation that peace isn’t the absence of turbulence, but it certainly can be found amid turbulence.

Sometimes I have a “peacemaking pointer” for you, but today I’m offering a peacefinding pointer: “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalms 46:10)