The Serenity of Mankind

I love to read as many of you do. What I enjoy reading is spiritual motivation and Christian history. I believe that over the years I have read literally hundreds of books on these topics. I have studied spirituality from every possible angle and as strange as it sounds, it is a moving target. I love motivational reading because I like to have positive affirmations going into my brain on a daily basis. Spirituality combined with motivation make for a pretty good recipe for life. 

Christian history is filled with information that if allowed could confuse the most brilliant of minds. There was a time I enjoyed reading and studying the depth of theological teachings and trust me, there are some amazing writers that can dive so deeply into the subject that the average layperson would have no hope of ever understanding it. I enjoyed studying the early developmental years, then the middle ages, and then the transformation to modern times and how all the periods had their own interpretations. 

Recently I wanted to discover the basis of true serenity in man. I dug deep, studied hard, and reflected back on all I had read over the years and none of it provided the simple wisdom I was looking for. What I finally concluded was the most serene people I had ever met were those that had almost nothing in life. I recall the poorest of the poor in Haiti and how filled with joy they were just to have one more day to live. They had absolutely nothing in the terms of material items; all they had were their family and friends close by, yet that provided enough spiritual motivation to carry on. How could I have missed it all these years ago?

I also recall visiting some people in prison a few years ago. Each person I visited with admitted they were where they deserved to be for the crime they committed, yet strangely enough, with zero pressures from the world outside the serenity they had discovered was not something I expected. I certainly will not be so foolish as to say everyone in prison shares this same serenity, I am merely speaking from my own observations. Without the distractions of the pleasures and possessions we take for granted in our everyday life, the mind seems to revert back to what is inherently instilled, and that is man’s search for meaning as well as the search for love and acceptance. For me, that says that the people I visited in prison had used their time to reflect on their mistakes and search deeply within for the truest spirituality that was placed in them from the beginning, just waiting to be found. 

Yet another touch of wisdom in my search comes from visiting with the patients in nursing homes. I am always saddened and blessed to share a moment with these usually elderly people. Their lives have been reduced to nearly nothing; everything they had worked for, their homes, their hopes, their dreams all taken away by life’s ever-evolving deterioration of the body due to age. Almost without fail though, when you engage these people the light comes on and their mind cranks up and they come back to life. They love to share stories of their lives. They have nothing left to share in our eyes, yet in their eyes they have had a life worth talking about if only someone would take the time to listen. 

The serenity I was seeking was not found in a vacation getaway and it was not in a book even though I still love to relax and read. The deepest serenity I have ever felt as I reflect back in my search is in those times when I allowed myself to truly be with the one I was with. I hope that makes sense. The best feelings I got in my quest were truly making my visits be about the person I was with and not about me. They had no place to be, no bills to pay, no new car to drive, ball game to go to, party to attend, or cosmetic surgery to buy. These people only had life in the here and now. 

I found the serenity I sought and it was the people I thought were in need that gave it to me. God does not send you angels of peace in the way of bigger homes, fancier exotic vacations, or the latest fashions. God does not create in you an angel to be snobbish to those outside your socioeconomic circle. The serene angels are found in those that can give you life wisdom through their eyes and experiences. Books are certainly great and I pray everyone reads them more and more. However, in conclusion, I hope you can come to understand that the serenity of man will never be found it what you can buy for yourself, but what you do for others. The doing, more often than not, will not be in the form of a charitable donation but in the form of a charitable heart that gives of itself.

I searched and I found and I wish I could say I live in that serenity every day, but as we all know life still has to be lived.  However, I will say that my eyes are opened to a new way of thinking. I am the one who needs those that I thought were needy because in them God sends the greatest messages of all. Be careful who you cross or ignore because they could be the very angel you need to put your life on the serene path I know you truly want. 

May the peace, serenity, and grace be with you always.

Dale