Shalom

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 34:14
The word for peace in the Hebrew of Psalm 34 is, of course, shalom. And we must never forget that that word has a far more complex meaning in the original tongue than the English word peace. More than just the absence of conflict, it also includes the presence of justice and righteousness. It is perhaps closer to our word wholeness than it is to simply peace.

When Paul told the Christians in Corinth that God had called them into peace, he was speaking to them not of international relations nor even of local street-fighting, but of their home life. Many of us pray for peace and work for justice without connecting it to inner peace or peace in our homes. God's will is for us to experience personal wholeness, and it is with that inner strength that we can reach out to the world.

It is to peace that God has called you.
 1 Corinthians 7:15
Prayer after thinking about today's devotion:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that you will make all things right, if I surrender to your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with you forever in the next.✙ \
 Reinhold Niebuhr

After your own thanksgivings & petitions, close with the Lord's Prayer.
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