A recipe for peace

Our conversation at Church That’s Not Church was a summary of the past 4 weeks and how the things we talked about might just be a recipe for peace. So much wonderful dialogue and sharing about our experiences and challenges. Also remembering that we need sorrow to recognize joy, and our inner critic to feel the relief of grace and disharmony to recognize peace. There are no “negative emotions”. They all play a part in bringing our awareness to our humanity and the gifts that come with every sacred journey. Enjoy!!

Reflection - a recipe for peace

Today we’re exploring what happens when three inner qualities — grace, compassion, and joy, along with that quiet state we’ve been calling flow — begin to work together.
Each one by itself softens something inside us.
But together, they form a kind of internal ecosystem that makes peace possible.

Grace is the soft landing when we fall short.
It’s the spaciousness that reminds us, “You’re allowed to be unfinished.”
It’s the easing of the inner critic, the shift from tightening to releasing.

Compassion is what rises up when we turn toward our own suffering or someone else’s with gentleness instead of judgment.
It’s the act of saying, “This too is human.”
Compassion lets us stay connected when life gets complicated.

Joy is not constant happiness — it is aliveness.
It’s what bubbles up when we let ourselves be present, even for a moment.
Joy is the spark we feel when we notice something beautiful, surprising, or tender.

And flow is what happens when we finally stop fighting the moment.
It’s the sense of being carried, rather than pushing.
It’s presence without friction.

Individually, each of these qualities offers relief.
Together, they create a pattern — a way of being in the world.

Grace softens us.
Compassion grounds us.
Joy brightens us.
Flow aligns us.

And peace is what arises when these four begin to work in harmony.

Peace is not something we force.
It’s something we allow.
It’s the natural result of loosening the grip on perfection, turning toward our own humanity, letting joy spark wherever it wants to, and trusting the current of the moment instead of resisting it.

Peace grows in the exact places we used to tense.
Peace appears in the breath after we stop trying to fix ourselves.
Peace is the spaciousness that comes from realizing we don’t need to be anything other than what we are — growing, learning, imperfect, alive.

When we let grace meet our flaws,
compassion meet our wounds,
joy meet our ordinary moments,
and flow meet our resistance,
peace has a way of finding us.

Not as an achievement,
but as a byproduct of gentleness.

So before we leave today let’s take one more breath.

Let your breath settle into your body.
Let your breath land like a small kindness.
Let your breath remind you that peace is not somewhere “out there,” but something that grows inside the conditions we create.

May you move through today with grace.
May compassion steady your heart.
May joy surprise you.
May flow carry you.
And may peace quietly, naturally rise.