For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been pondering over a subject for the final week of Advent, and asked myself: What are most of our people seeking now?

Peace? Again and again, I returned to the title of this article, which is also the title of the book I had chosen for reference, written by Eknath Easwaran, a native of India, published by the Nilgiri Press.

As I read of Easwaran’s bent toward meditation and fostering a peaceful way of life, I couldn’t help but compare his way of life with ours in the rural area of the United States, during the Depression era at Christimas time.

Although farmers owned trucks and daily used them, teams of horses with musical bells were the transportation of choice for Midnight Mass, complete with a canopy of stars, and blankets spread over knees to ward off the chill of the night.

This was before electricity was carried out to the rural area, so there were no lights to keep the horses on the right path, nor any need for them, so familiar were they with the roads.

After Mass, we would return to the farmhouse, where the older boys heaped additional logs on the fire place, and the women made last-minute preparations for the traditional feast, while the men lit the candles on the tree, after seeing that pails of water and sand were close at hand for emergencies. One year, a candle was too close to a branch, and the entire tree burned, besides a blackboard for my twin sister and me from Santa. I don’t recall if he had time for a return trip to replace it, though I am sure we reminded our parents about it every hour on the hour.

I tarry over-long, and now let us seek out Easwaran and listen to some sage advice he has been passing on to us Americans, suitable for every follower of Christ:

• Slow down inwardly, even if we have a lot to do.
• Stay calmer, more patient more loving with those around us.
• Improve concentration – do one thing at a time and do it well.
• Keep our attention in the present, so we don’t keep wasting energy on worry and resentment.
• Get a sense of Life’s true purpose.

All these maxims we can find in any retreat notes we’ve saved decade after decade. Yet, in these days of calm and peace, they may appear with renewed meaning.

Let us pray for one another and our families, that from Easwaran, this teacher from India, we may find the way to inner peace, the Gospel message of Bethlehem.

Merry, Blessed Christmas to all!

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