Mistaking Comfort for Peace

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In our time, the things considered the greatest in importance are those that concern having a pleasurable life, being able to control great things with personal choice, being perceived well, and having more wealth than is necessary. Each of these is a source of worldly comfort. Comfort, then, in the sense I mean it is only the lack of strife, difficulty, pain, or constraint. Contrary to this is the Christian life, the Artist of which declares, "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?"(Matthew 16:24-26; life is used ambiguously meaning both eternal and earthly). Therefore, even though we are called away from world comfort we are called toward heavenly peace. The enemy is definitely interested in making us believe the two are alike. Peace is not comfort.

Peace is the quality of life that transcends all circumstances that only a good relationship with God bestows. Christ himself describes this peace saying, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."(John 14:27). This peace can only be found in the "conversion of heart and incessant prayer".[1] The spiritual life is NOT a life with only positive implications, God imposed comfort and limitless prosperity.[2] On the contrary and as the picture above demonstrates, if you truly are living the Christian life seeking freedom from sin, string after the salvation of others, helping others become better and healed, etc., you will be met with every kind of opposition. This battle is incessant and painful.[3] Yet, "without war, there is no peace"[4]. The is not to mean the earthly sense of war but the spiritual kind, which bears an entirely different context. Rather, the essential meaning is that if there is no pain, suffering, or strife our love for God is only conceptual and not acted upon. Comfort thus is more often than not opposed to the peace of which we discuss. The peace lies in knowing that with great difficulty you continue to strive after what God calls us to do and that we are doing what we were created for and as a result of such, God is allowing us to display our love for Him and merit our salvation. HE gives us this because in our participation in His work, we participate in His reward. Peace is from love, comfort from apathy.

In conclusion, let us not consider ourselves "good enough". If there is no struggle in our lives, it means that we are not trying. If we are not trying, we are certainly not loving God "with all [our] heart, will all [our] soul, and with all [our] strength"(Mark 12:28-30). Still more, if it is truly salvation we have found then why would we not do everything to reap its reward as though it were a treasure hidden in a field or a pearl of great value (cf. Matthew 13:44-46). Do our actions subsist in our beliefs? Do we love God even when it is not convenient? Are we serving our own comfort or living in God's peace?

"We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of "this present world" can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant. For example, some would have it that only that is true which can be verified by reason and science; yet prayer is a mystery that overflows both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize production and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still, others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and the beautiful; whereas prayer, the "love of beauty" (philokalia), is caught up in the glory of the living and true God. Finally, some see prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against activism; but in fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life."[5]

FN:

  1. Jacques Philippe, George Driscoll, and Jannic Driscoll, “Chapter 2,” in Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart (New York: Society of St. Paul, 2002), pp. 15-16.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Catherine of Siena is often quoted as saying this.
  5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2727.
Oh Lord, You call us to more,
in nothing, we do for you are we forlorn.

Your love consists not primarily in good feelings,
but in peace in all our dealings.

When we see our life's difficulties,
would that find ourselves wrapped in your love and mercies.


I am a created entity, not a person.

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