Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 197 – Week 29 - Peace
Scripture focus: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:20
I think we can all agree that peace of mind is a precious experience; I bet we also utter a hardy “amen” when someone suggests that our hearts and minds need guarding. People search for peace in many ways – some of which seem very strange to me. I just finished reading the book, Into The Wild, by John Krakauer. It’s a documentary of sorts about one young man’s search for peace that resulted in death by starvation. It matters how we search for peace. What is not debatable is our need for it.
“Every organ and muscle in our body has a sympathetic or stress state and a parasympathetic or relaxed state. Both of these systems are part of the autonomic nervous system. Researchers at the Institute of HeartMath have found that the toxic emotions experienced as a result of this “busy-rush syndrome” cause disruptions to the autonomic nervous system that lead to erratic heart rhythms (among a myriad of other health problems). Take the time to do things that generate positive emotions, such as love, respect and kindness, and the result will be more coherent heart rhythms. This rhythm is a balance between the sympathetic (accelerates the heartbeat) and the parasympathetic (slows the heartbeat) nervous systems. Therefore, relaxing is not just a luxury, it’s a necessity.” Who Switched off My Brain?
It’s my prayer that we will find the peace of God, and allow it to transcend our understanding. May it permeate our life experience and recharge our emotional responses to life. May we be enriched by the fruit that this peace produces – like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May we have whole brain experiences with God today.
Recommended reading: 1 Chronicles 20 and 21 in the morning; Romans 3 and Psalm 9 in the evening
I think we can all agree that peace of mind is a precious experience; I bet we also utter a hardy “amen” when someone suggests that our hearts and minds need guarding. People search for peace in many ways – some of which seem very strange to me. I just finished reading the book, Into The Wild, by John Krakauer. It’s a documentary of sorts about one young man’s search for peace that resulted in death by starvation. It matters how we search for peace. What is not debatable is our need for it.
“Every organ and muscle in our body has a sympathetic or stress state and a parasympathetic or relaxed state. Both of these systems are part of the autonomic nervous system. Researchers at the Institute of HeartMath have found that the toxic emotions experienced as a result of this “busy-rush syndrome” cause disruptions to the autonomic nervous system that lead to erratic heart rhythms (among a myriad of other health problems). Take the time to do things that generate positive emotions, such as love, respect and kindness, and the result will be more coherent heart rhythms. This rhythm is a balance between the sympathetic (accelerates the heartbeat) and the parasympathetic (slows the heartbeat) nervous systems. Therefore, relaxing is not just a luxury, it’s a necessity.” Who Switched off My Brain?
It’s my prayer that we will find the peace of God, and allow it to transcend our understanding. May it permeate our life experience and recharge our emotional responses to life. May we be enriched by the fruit that this peace produces – like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May we have whole brain experiences with God today.
Recommended reading: 1 Chronicles 20 and 21 in the morning; Romans 3 and Psalm 9 in the evening
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1 comment:
I saw the movie Into the wild and read the book. Chris (the young man in this story) was looking for peace. I think he was living in a present pain due to a past hurt. He seemed to contradict himself in so many ways. While he ran and ran and ran to get as far away as he could from all his pain, he discovered too late that he could not really experience happiness without relationship. The very solitude he thought would bring him peace, in the end brought death. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe he did want reconciliation with his mom and dad, but the roadblocks of justifiable resentment, stubborn resistance, disconnected isloation, and blind ignorance got in the way. I found his story just heart-breaking.
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