There is, in meditation, a blessed opportunity to experience and expand into the Oneness of All That Is. When I first sat in silence, I didn't know I was meditating. I was experiencing organized religion and began each day with my "quiet time." There were moments when I felt the Divine Presence so completely that my body seemed to float. It was twenty years before I decided to try meditation. Wasn't I surprised!

Taking yoga and sitting in silence at the end of the practice brought me to a different experience of meditation. My awareness began to expand and more and more often I melted into what I came to call "that sweet place." Still I thought much of this was really outside of me. I was living in the bible belt of the south and, believe me, there were few yoga classes and even fewer enlightened teachers. I met New Agers (love them!) and those learning and following Native American traditions (oh yes, love them too!). I studied it all. People loaned or gave me books by Deepak...

It's a lot, isn't it? These last 4 months...It's a lot.

Peace is defined as "freedom from disturbance; tranquility."

How in the midst of all that is going on in our world do we have peace/tranquility?

First of all, we remember or realize that True Peace comes from the world within rather than the outside world. I can hear some of you saying "Are you kidding me!? How an I have peace within when the world has gone crazy!!??

That is a valid question and one I have been confronted by for most of my life.

It is seldom easy in human terms to be peaceful during truly traumatic, chaotic times.

Now our world, and specifically my country, is demanding change on very fundamental levels. First, we must create peace within. Then we will be instrumental in creating peace in our families, communities, countries, world.

For me, the path to true, abiding peace begins within me. The past 4 months of the pandemic and the separation from others that resulted have tested me at those very...