“A peaceful heart finds joy in all of life’s simple pleasures.” (Franklin Cider Mill sign)
I tried to look up that quote, but it is unattributed anywhere that I found it as written. The closest that I found was by Clyde L. Pilkington, Jr – “A peaceful heart is a joyful heart in all of life’s circumstances.” Pilkington is a pastor, author and radio host.
I’ve written here before that local pastor Doug McMunn, of the Milford United Methodist Church, is one of my favorite people and often uses the phrase “Be at peace” when discussing topics that might otherwise boil over with passion or emotion. He is also the
best listener that I’ve ever met.
The concept of being at peace with the world around you and with yourself is a tough one for many people to understand. How can one be at peace while living in a sometimes tumultuous world? I think the secret is to find peace within yourself and with your situation first. I’ve posted here a few times about being able to like/love yourself first, before you can even try to like/love others. Once you get to the point that you can honestly say to yourself, “I like me and I’m happy with where I am in my life, with what I have”; you will find yourself to be at peace and ready to share love or friendship with others.
Some are able to get to that state of self-acceptance and peace through meditation and some use the power of prayer. One way or another one must peel back the layers of concern and fear and anger and envy and self-destructive negativity that burden us in life and expose the very core of your being. You will not find there any of those bad things; just hope and love and trust and acceptance. If you can get back in touch with that innocent, 
inner child-like being that was once so blissfully happy playing with its own toes you may come to realize that everything that you have stripped away to get back to that state is basically meaningless. You can be at peace with yourself. Once you get to that state of having a peaceful heart, the rest of today’s quote takes over and you can begin to really enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
So, for this weekend, if only for a moment – be at peace.
Posted by Norm Werner 
So, to be complete, today’s post headline should say, “Don’t sleep on the problem, sleep on the solution.”
pray about it. When you pray about a problem you aren’t really asking God to make the problem go away, but rather to give you the strength, courage and wisdom to deal with the issues that constitute the problem. You are also asking God to be with you through the problem resolution. Sleep will come easier when you drift off knowing that you can now say “We’ve got this” instead of feeling alone in the thought that “I’ve got this.” After all, what problem stands a chance when you have God in your corner?
on your side. Maybe that will make jotting down three things that you are going to do tomorrow a lot easier.
That’s why we put our money in the Red Salvation Army kettles at Christmas or maybe we join a prayer circle at church and pray for people that we don’t even know who have been through some natural disaster in some foreign place. Both actions have a positive impact that we don’t get to see directly.
show that you cared enough to take the time to pray for those in need and for solutions to the big, seemingly impossible problems that plague the world, such as hunger or diseases or discrimination. After all, where are you going to take those big problems and find someone who has a proven track record of doing the impossible and performing miracles? People of faith know that somewhere, somehow, someone will benefit from those prayers. You may not see the results, but you know that there are always results when you ask God for help.
So, if you care, do something about it. Maybe you can take some direct action, maybe not; but, you can always pray. Maybe Mead’s little quote should be slightly changed to read – “Never believe that a few praying people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
There are certainly plenty of stories in the Bible of God providing when called upon, some of them even involving food or drink. The Bible is also full of references of mankind “hungering or thirsting” for religious signs or reinforcement of beliefs. It’s as if we can only go so long on one serving of faith before we need another “meal”, another helping of God’s love. That new helping of faith comes through prayer. We ask God and He provides. We need no spoon for the nourishment for our souls that comes looking upward and opening our mouths in prayer.
This year the 4th of July Parade will have a special twist, with the addition of the Huron Valley Rotary Club’s annual Duck Race in Central Park. Here is their Press Release –
local organizations are encouraged to enter a float or walking group in the parade. The parade is on the 4th of July and steps off at 11:00 AM, with line-up starting at 10:15 AM. Participants line up on Union, Hickory and East Streets. Groups may obtain the Parade Registration form from the Milford Historical Society web site – 
You will meet many people this week and all of them will be people for whom the little quote above applies. Many of them may also be someone who is need of someone else to share their fears or sadness or love with; someone who cares about them and their situation or condition. Maybe that can be you.
then intently listen to your answers. They will express empathy or sympathy, while also offering support and encouragement. You will also notice that you start to feel better because you found someone with whom you can share things that may have been nagging at you or even overwhelming you. Figuratively (and perhaps literally), you have found a shoulder to cry upon. You’ll feel better and they will too, for having been there for you.
There is a rather famous sports clip of the late Jimmy Valvano running around the court after NC State won the 1983 National Championship game (
always get more of as they need it. For many (if not most) of the elderly, time becomes the most important thing, but concerns about money constantly loom, since most no longer have the ability to get more, if needed. Running out of money, however, doesn’t carry quite the drastic consequences as does running out of time. Both should be spent wisely.
One could start by asking what it is that you might be stressing about. For most that might be something left undone at work or at home, some possession that you don’t have or can’t afford, some bills that you don’t know how you are going to pay, some person that you haven’t met yet, something new that you’ve never tried before, or maybe a decision that you have to make that you just aren’t sure about. All of those things have something in common – they are about the unknown (one might say for many about the unknowable). We all tend to stress when we get outside of our comfort zone and face the unknown.
to make it what we want it to be. The foundation of that approach to life it to first be happy with what you have, with where you are and with who you are – to remember and be thankful how blessed you already are.
The ELCA church has an annual day of service called “God’s Work, Our Hands”, which is coming up soon. On that day congregations around across America find special ways to give back to the communities in which they are located, through service projects.
God to fix the problem for you. The path to resolution of all problems still involves our hands, even if they are doing the work that God has directed us to do.
Many times we may be saying “Thank You” for surviving things that we should have been praying “Help me” for in the first place. The free will that God gave mankind oft turns to a curse when it becomes an ego too big to ask for help. Sometimes it is our own insecurities
that hold us back or make us afraid to even try to solve our own problems.
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