MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA TREATISE I.12. THE PEACE OF GOD.
ANGELICO, Fra
Coronation of the Virgin (detail)
1434-35
MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA TREATISE I.
12. THE PEACE OF GOD.
I. The peace of God is a most profound tranquillity and
repose, like the silence of untrodden mountain summits
clothed with eternal snows ; or like the lowest depths of the
ocean, where the fierce storms that rage on the surface are
unfelt, and where the turbulent industry of men can never
penetrate. Nothing can equal that peace. Within the God
head there is its perfect unity without diversity, there is
immutability untouched by any changes. The will of God
is not disturbed by the need of striving after anything that
has to be accomplished or possessed ; and nothing happens
contrary to its determination. God is not like man, dis
turbed by the weight of responsibility or the greatness of
His operations ; nor by any incompetence, or weakness, or
failure of His plans ; nor by hesitation and doubt as to the
issue of events ; nor by the loss of the love and esteem
which so many of mankind refuse Him ; nor even by the
exercise of His avenging justice when this becomes neces
sary. "But Thou, being master of power, dost judge with
great tranquillity" (Wisd. xii. 18). In the human soul, as in
heaven, God dwells not in an atmosphere of tumult, excite
ment, passion. Those who are eminently the abode of God
are marked always by a peaceful and peace-making spirit,
by contentment and joy under all circumstances. May this
" peace of God which surpasseth all understanding keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. iv. 7).
II. The tranquillity of God is not inaction and stagna
tion. On the contrary, it is the accompaniment of irresistible
power always in activity, and never swerving from its pur
poses, and never overcome. It is like the silence and quiet
of the broad sunshine as it bathes land and sea in its glow.
Nothing is more peaceful, yet its activity in a single instant
is to be measured by millions of horse-power. It is the
source of almost all the mechanical force and heat and
motion on this earth. So, too, it is with God. Although
He abides in an eternal Sabbath, yet Our Lord says, " My
Father worketh until now, and I work" (John v. 17).
When we hereafter enter into the repose of the Lord we
shall not pass into a state of inactive enjoyment. Life and
action are inseparable ; and a fuller life means that our
faculties will be freed from their present bondage, our
powers enlarged, and consequently our activity. God s
whole universe will be open to us. Then will begin our
true life of increasing mental activity, and, in some way, of
usefulness also in a higher sphere of work.
III. Holy Scripture sometimes speaks of God as angry,
or as repenting of what He had done. Such passages are
not to be understood literally ; they are figures of speech,
used to impress on us the evil of sin, and the consequences
of withdrawing ourselves from the beneficent operation of
the divine law. No ingratitude, insult, or wrong can really
ruffle the immutable peace of God. Nothing of earth is
able to penetrate into the inner sanctuary of the Divinity
and diminish the essential joy and glory of God. We need
a like equanimity if we are to be happy amidst the turmoil
of this world. It can come only from God abiding in our
souls. Forgetfulness of God induces an over-anxiety about
earthly things, a feverish activity in the pursuit of them, an
intemperate indulgence in pleasure, which rob us of the
proper rewards of our activity, and destroy the capacity for
enjoyment. Even for its temporal well-being human life
requires a large infusion of the peace of God ; and activity
needs to be tempered by grace in order that it may attain
its full efficiency. Act always with vigour and upright in
tention, but leave the result to God, and be contented with it.
Let no wrongs endured, no disappointment, disturb your
equanimity. Our Lord has said to His faithful : " My peace
I give to you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, nor let
it be afraid " (John xiv. 27).
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