There is a door that leads to peace. The door is shut and there is a lock on the door too.  For some, opening that door seems impossible.  For one, we may be so overwhelmed dealing with stuff on this side of the door that we don't even see the door or remember it is there.  We may have brief moments of reprieve, look upon the door and long for what lies beyond the door, but believe that it is beyond our capacity to get there.  We may at times try to force our way through the door, break it down, pick the lock, but nothing works. We adopt substitutes for the peace we crave, but these eventually magnify and multiply the lack of peace we have.  We become angered that the peace we so desire is kept from us, denied to us.  We kick the door.
We hear others speak from beyond the door.  Their words of gratitude and joy produce both envy and anger.  
How did they get through the door?  What secret do they keep from us?  Why do they tease us with their possession? 
Years may pass as we writhe in our self-pity, pride, fears, and anxieties.  Remarkably, we may feel led back to the door.  We hear a silent voice ask us to reach out and take hold of the door handle.  We do so and turn it.  We are surprised that the lock is not engaged and wonder if this has been the case all along?  Our heart beats with hope and anticipation as we pull and the door begins to open quite easily.  
We look through the doorway and are surprised by what lies beyond the door.
There beyond the door are those we've heard speak before from beyond the door, and many, many others.  This isn't, however, what surprises us.  Instead, what is astonishing is that other than those who know peace, everything else is the same.  Everything.  Everything beyond the door is also what lies on this side.  Our circumstances remain the same, but our perception of them is transformed.   
We step through the door and we feel something course through our veins.  Peace. Deep, rich, pervasive peace runs though us and washes over us.  
Around the challenges that we face we no longer see the fabrications of fear.  These dreads are gone.  
What has happened?  Why has this not happened before?  Why have others been here for so long while we suffered on the other side of the door?
As if we had spoken our questions, a friend responds: surrender, you let go of what you cannot control and you have learned to trust the only One who does have control.  That One gives us courage to face our challenges, hope that carries us, strength to persist in faith, and humility that keeps us from reclaiming what was never ours.  

© Stephen Carl