Guest Writer: Larry Burton
May: Peace
“Peace is not something you can force on anything or anyone... . much less upon one's own mind. It's like trying to quiet the ocean by pressing upon the waves. Sanity lies in somehow opening to the chaos, allowing anxiety, moving deeply into the tumult, diving into the waves, where underneath, within, peace simply is.” Gerald May
The Arkansas River where I take peace giving walks
It is a great temptation, when I am sitting with a Spiritual Friend, to want to do something. After all I am engaged in Spiritual Direction, aren’t I? But over the years I have continued to learn from the late Gerald May, as I return again and again to the wisdom shared in his many books. Underneath my desire to act is an anxiety I know only too well. Somehow, I want to prove my worth to my friend. Again, and again, I am reminded that instead of taking on the anxiety of the friend with whom I am sitting, I can reach deeper to a peaceful river of silent love flowing inside. Then, rather than reacting to the anxiety by trying to smother it with action, I can simply receive it, allowing it to reveal the secrets it surely holds. I relax the tension that has begun to accumulate in my neck and shoulders, take a deep breath, and wait. In the silence, there is room for the Great Voice to be heard. As Dr. May says, “True growth is a process that one allows to happen rather than causes to happen.”
Larry Burton
Joanna joannaseibert.com