Seek Peace First

by Kalie Marino

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When I first started reading A Course in Miracles, I was fascinated by the concept of seeking peace first, knowing that everything else will be taken care of once we are at peace. This is the story of my first direct experience of this spiritual principle.

One summer day, I was sitting in my room meditating, feeling waves of peace, when I heard my husband and teenage son arguing in the kitchen. In that instant, I suddenly knew what was going to happen next. They would soon come get me to referee their fight, as I usually did. It was a well established pattern of behavior in our family, but I had never seen it before that moment.

This time, I wasn't willing to play referee. I was experiencing peace and I wanted to keep it! The louder they fought, the harder I tried to drowned them out, as I mentally chanted, "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God."

I heard them starting up the steps.  They were quarreling all the way. "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God," I chanted, determined to keep my peace.

Soon, they were at my office door. They pushed open the door, and sat down in front of me as they continued to argue. Couldn't they see I was meditating? Didn't they know they were disturbing my peace?

By then, I had to admit I no longer had any peace to keep. I believed we are responsible for the events our lives, but how could I possibly be responsible for this quarrel, when all I wanted was peace? While I didn't know how I could have caused it, I did realize I had become a part of this conflict when I began resenting their intrusion on my peace.

I was determined to deal with this situation from a state of peace. So, I decided that I would not say one word to anyone until I was at peace within myself. "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God," I continued to repeat in my mind.

Suddenly, the picture in front of me changed. Instead of seeing two people quarreling, I saw two people in total agreement. Spontaneously I exclaimed, "Oh! You agree with each other!"

They both turned toward me with looks of total astonishment on their faces. "Agree?" They said together. They had shocked expressions, like I had just slapped them across their faces.

"Yes!" I exclaimed with delight. "You both want love and respect, and you want it in the same way."

They turned to look into each other's eyes, as tears rolled down their faces. In that moment, they knew the truth. They were both calling for love, but because they each felt a lack of love, they didn't know they had love to give. They didn't know they had what the other wanted and valued in them their love. In that moment of peace, we were all healed together.

Miracles are perceptual shifts that lead to action, spontaneously. As I moved from the fear of losing my peace into a state of actually having peace, I saw the situation differently and spontaneously responded to the truth I saw through the eyes of love.

We don't know the right thing to do until we are in the right place to see things as they really are. Anything that disturbs our peace also distorts or perception. Seeing things from peace, we know exactly what to do, spontaneously. I learned that when I seek a peace first, everything else is taken care of.

© 1984-2003 Kalie Marino, 215-672-1599