Many years ago there was a touching story written of Lady Hosie of England, who visited a Leper Hospital at Hangchow China. “She had photographed a group of lepers when down the stairs was helped an elderly woman in a most pitiable condition; her sightless eyes, without their Iids, were covered by a woolen mutch. A cry was raised that Chang Ma had missed having her picture taken, so the visitor prepared to take another with her in the midst. As she was focusing her camera, that worst leper of all started to sing, “There Is a Happy Land,” and suddenly instead of poor lepers the visitor was seeing them as “saints in glory . . . , bright, bright as day.” She was taken to see one who was dying, and wondered what she could say to him. Steadying her voice, she called to him with the politeness that China teaches, “Elder Brother, art thou at peace?” And from that frame, almost unrecognizable as human, with an affected tongue and from a lipless mouth, came a voice, cracked yet steadfast, “Yes, at peace, at peace. And I shall soon see my Lord.”
We often equate rest and peace with our surroundings or situation, however, true rest and peace come from a mind that is focused on and at peace with God. Even in the midst of the most dreadful and frightening circumstances, we can remain at rest in our minds. Jesus gave us the secrets, it’s just up to us to trust and obey.
Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are:
- The absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.
- Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression.
- Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.
- Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress.
- Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune.
- Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues–love, humor, compassion, and loyalty.
- Do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.
- Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness.
