• by Sibylle Custer • A question on so many people’s minds is, “How do we find peace with other people and with the world around us?” I’ve been reflecting on the nature of peace, and know that first of all, you need to have peace in yourself before you can radiate it outwards.
There is a story that has inspired me through the years, even in my childhood. The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote about a farmer who was put in a very challenging situation, and had to figure out a way to find peace in himself.
The farmer who was living in a village, was used to doing his farm work during the week and going to church on Sunday. But then the Communist era started, and his farm was subject to new rules. The communist leaders were not supportive of the religious practices of the people in the village.
When they came to this farmer’s house on an Easter Saturday, the official asked him to plow his field on Easter morning in keeping with the new plan of government. The farmer said: “It’s Easter Sunday tomorrow; I would like to go to church.”
The official left the farmer thinking that if he did not oblige and go according to the plan of the officials, he would lose his farm and his livelihood. So the farmer was faced with the question of what to do: go to church, or plow the field?
Nowadays, his solution sometimes comes to my mind. What he did fascinates me. He dressed in his Sunday clothes with white shirt, looking absolutely festive. He went to his plow and started to plow his field, but first put a candle on the plow and lit it. Now he plowed the field in his Sunday outfit, and nobody could say anything about that! He did what the world had asked of him, but he also did not give up what his soul wanted to do, which was to worship God on Sunday.
That is a decision that we are sometimes asked to make: to give the world what the world is asking, but also remain true to our own self. Jesus said, “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give unto God what is God’s.” This way you don’t lose your soul, which is as important (or more so) than whatever the world is asking of you. That solution has stayed really deep in me. That farmer was truly at peace.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene
