Swedenborg & Life Recap: How to Find Lasting Inner Peace — 9.16.19

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We all want inner peace. But how do we feel okay amidst all of life’s chaos? Sometimes we might have a glimpse of the peace we seek, but it doesn’t always last. Peace should be possible most of the time, though, right? In this episode, host Curtis Childs shows us how to find an enduring peace.

Sometimes there’s something going on that makes feeling peace almost impossible. That’s totally valid, but what about those times where you should be able to feel peace but just don’t? It seems like there’s always something in your way.

The problems that get in the way of peace: reads, "jealousy, worry, fear, control."

For each obstacle we encounter, we can come up with a tool that helps us deal with it.

The tools that help us deal with the problems: reads "humility, trust, surrender."

But even with these proven, reliable tools that help us overcome our problems, we still don’t feel the lasting peace we seek. So is it possible that peace itself is the wrong goal?

According to eighteenth-century spiritual teacher Emanuel Swedenborg, the secret to solving these issues is in the fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day.” It tells us to put the Sabbath at the center of our thinking.

There are certain things that we constantly think about; that is, they are universally sovereign in our mind. These are our deepest thoughts. . . . It is important to realize that what is universally sovereign in us has actually been implanted into our will. Our will is the innermost part of us, because it is shaped by our love. Whatever we love, we want, and whatever we love above all else is our deepest desire. (Secrets of Heaven §8885:2)

Maybe it’s not peace, then, that we’re actually seeking. Peace is an absence of conflict, not a target to aim for. Instead, what if we sought the Sabbath? That doesn’t make sense, though, if it’s just the day of the week that we don’t work.

But it’s not. It means something deeper. The Sabbath represents our union with the Lord’s goals, which are love and joy for everyone. Once we align with that as the true goal, everything else can fall into place.

So peace is the result of seeking union with the Lord; it’s not the thing you seek.

Curtis standing on a stage, with the problems / tools chart behind him.

Within peace, you see, lies trust in the Lord: trust that he is in complete charge, takes care of everything, and leads it to a good ending. When we believe this, we are at peace, because we then fear nothing and have no worries about the future to disturb us. (Secrets of Heaven §8455)

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