The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on June 27, 2025 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
A well-known quote in justice circles proclaims, “the absence of war is not peace.” A Minnesota folk singer (Peter Mayer) acknowledges that the dove of peace exists, but sadly admits that she is “not an easy bird to keep.” St. Ignatius, teaching about consolation and desolation, recognized the difference between peace in the depths and happiness or disturbance on the surface. While still ministering among the disciples, Jesus of Nazareth promised to give peace to them, but notes that it is not the same as the peace of the world (John 14:27). Later, after his death and resurrection, he appears to them and proclaims, “peace be with you,” just before breathing on them and sharing the gift of the Holy Spirit. (John 20: 21-22)
Each of these illustrations suggest that finding peace is not easy. Specifically, they collectively point to a pattern: peace is not an object found on the surface of reality, but rather is a reality that lies in the depths. Peace, much like wholeness, is “already there,” and “always available,” but since it is in the places of the deep, it is not easy to grasp, much less to achieve for a long period of time.
Recognizing this pattern becomes the work of prayer as peace. The work of prayer as peace is hard, ongoing work. It entails holding the threads that keep the surface of daily life worldly events in tension with the depths where peace is found. Holding the threads that bind the visible and invisible, the surface and the depths, is hard work. The discipline of regular prayer and the support of community help to ease the sense of burden. Prayer and community also help to sweeten the taste of peace when we do experience it.
May our ongoing prayers both sweeten the taste of prayer as peace, and also lessen the gap between the reality of peace in the depths and on the surface of daily life!
