BALTIMORE, Maryland, Sunday, December 4, 2016 - Mankind's perpetual - some would say incessant - quest for peace of the soul, or 'inner peace," is a topic that passes through and abounds in every single one of Earth's ages. One can almost hear the wisest of men remarking aloud that "I shall seek inner peace" as he or she makes their way through in an otherwise open field or along a lonely mountain ridge. Even the Bible depicts Christ alone in the desert, waging battle with Lucifer. "All of this would be yours," Satan says to Christ as the two gaze over the world spread before them.
Christ's rejoinder to Lucifer is, basically, "it already is." The rest of us need help when such evil is upon our shoulders or lurking in our blind spots. It seemed like all of the dramas by William Shakespeare returned in some manner or the other to the theme of inner peace. Tennyson, Baudelaire, or any of the great poets often touched on the subject. And yet despite all of the attention, the conundrum remains. There is no answer, there is no magic potion, there is no rejoinder to the Almighty. In fact, Christ seems to say for us not to worry, but to leave all of our problems, all of our sins, to him. Then we will be redeemed and saved. The Lord handles it for us.
When does mankind worry the most? On the eve of battle? The legendary American ballad, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" seems to confirm this. The lyrics:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die* to make men free*,[14]
While God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.
*The word "die' in the last verse of the original by Julia Ward Howe is sometimes changed to "live" when sung in these present times.
In my mind, this song transfigures people. If the message reaches your heart, you cannot help but be changed, challenged, rejuvenated. There is no definition of inner peace, at least in a secular sense. When one feels in his heart and soul that the Lord is carrying him or her through their life, peace can be attained.
At least that is what I think.
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