READING: Philippians 4:4-9 (New International Version)

Rejoice in [God] always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. [God] is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds ...

Finally ... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is [just], whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

READING: from Steps Toward Inner Peace by Peace Pilgrim

In my early life I made two very important discoveries. In the first place I discovered that making money was easy. And in the second place I discovered that making money and spending it foolishly was completely meaningless. I knew that this was not what I was here for, but at that time ... I didn't know exactly what I was here for. It was out of a very deep seeking for a meaningful way of life, and after having walked all one night through the woods, that I came to what I now know to be a very important psychological hump. I felt a complete willingness, without any reservations, to give my life, to dedicate my life to service. I tell you, it's a point of no return. After that, you can never go back to completely self-centered living.

And so I went into the second phase of my life. I began to live to give what I could, instead of to get what I could, and I entered a new and wonderful world. My life began to become meaningful. ... From that time on, I have known that my life-work would be work for peace; that it would cover the whole peace picture – peace among nations, peace among groups, peace among individuals, and the very, very important inner peace. However, there's a great deal of difference between being willing to give your life, and actually giving your life, and for me, 15 years of preparation and of inner seeking lay between.

During this time I became acquainted with what the psychologists refer to as Ego and Conscience. I began to realize that it's as though we have two selves or two natures or two wills with two different viewpoints. Because the viewpoints were so different, I felt a struggle in my life at this period between the two selves [within me]. So there were hills and valleys – lots of hills and valleys. Then in the midst of the struggle there came a wonderful mountain-top experience, and for the first time I knew what inner peace was like. I felt a oneness – oneness with all my fellow human beings, oneness with all of creation. I have never felt really separate since. ... Again, this is a point of no return. You can never go back into the struggle. The struggle is over now because you will do the right thing, and you don't need to be pushed into it.

However, progress is not over. Great progress has taken place in this third phase of my life, but it's as though the central figure of the jigsaw puzzle of your life is complete and clear and unchanging, and around the edges other pieces keep fitting in. There is always a growing edge, but the progress is harmonious. There is a feeling of always being surrounded by all of the good things, like love and peace and joy. ... The world may look at you and believe that you are facing great problems, but always there are the inner resources to easily overcome these problems. Nothing seems difficult. There is a calmness and serenity and unhurriedness – no more striving or straining about anything. Life is full and good, but life is nevermore overcrowded. ...Now there is a living to give instead of to get. ... You are now in control of your life. You see, the ego is never in control. The ego is controlled by wishes for comfort and convenience on the part of the body, by demands of the mind, and by outbursts of the emotions. But the higher nature controls the body and the mind and the emotions. I can say to my body, "Lie down there on that cement floor and go to sleep," and it obeys. I can say to my mind, "Shut out everything else and concentrate on this job before you," and it's obedient. I can say to my emotions, "Be still, even in the face of this terrible situation," and they are still. It's a different way of living. ... Thoreau wrote: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer. And now you are following a different drummer – the higher nature instead of the lower.

SERMON: “Peace Beyond Understanding”

About ten years ago, just after the Berlin wall and the entire Iron Curtain fell, our country's President began talking about a New World Order. And indeed, in the last ten years, the shape of order in our world has changed. There are new relationships among the nations with new dynamics, and there are new alliances with new strategies for achieving prosperity and peace. Freedom and democracy are expanding, as is free enterprise. The United States is being called the world's only superpower – lucky us!? The current issue of The Economist has as its headline, “America's World” (or something like that), and on the cover is a map of the world – North America is shown very large, and the other continents appear as tiny islands around it. It's kind of like those posters of “a New Yorker's view of the world,” where New York City with all its local landmarks takes up most of the picture, and over the Hudson is a rather indistinct landscape with “Jersey” written here, “Kansas” there, “Alaska” and “Japan” on the horizon. The Economist's fear is not that the United States will try to dominate the rest of the world – as the world's only superpower, we don't have to try to do that! No, what The Economist fears is that the United States will take the rest of the world for granted, that we will treat the world as our playground and isolate ourselves from the world's problems.

And the world does still have problems. How the New World Order resembles the old one! We may have new relationships among nations, but relationships among nations per se are much the same. Even when there is peace between nations, peace may not thrive within nations. Some governments make war on their own people, as Russia is doing in Chechnya. Some governments use police action to restrict their people's freedom, as the military junta is doing in Burma. And even where repressive governments are reforming themselves, creating more democratic institutions and holding out the promise of greater freedom for their people, progress is not always peaceful – some governments lurch and convulse toward reform, the promise of freedom passing first through the fire of terror and violence, as it has in Indonesia.

And all of this seems so far beyond the power of you or I to affect it. How can any one of us bring peace to the world?

Our own country is not always a peaceful place. Again and again, we learn of some cruel or desperate act of violence committed by and against our neighbors, in places we expect to be havens of peace – in workplaces, in schools, in churches, in homes. The recent workplace shootings in Hawaii and Seattle are only the latest examples. And sometimes they hit closer to home. I felt more deeply affected by the recent school scare in Cleveland, because I moved here from there, and have many friends and colleagues there who I know are saddened that even the threat of a school shooting should arise in their community.

We have all been reminded this week of Matthew Williams's crimes – he has confessed to the murder of a gay couple near Redding, and all but confessed to last summer's synagogue bombings here in Sacramento. Williams's crimes are not only closer to home, they are more horrifying because Williams does not present himself as a troubled person. The young man in Wyoming who was just sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Matthew Shepherd – he presented himself as a troubled person. It was “gay panic,” he said. I'm glad the judge didn't allow that defense. I hate to see our courts telling people that they don't need to take responsibility for their views and attitudes and feelings. Insanity is one thing, but panic? Panic is not insanity, it is a very strong feeling of fear. A sane person can refrain from acting out panic by committing violence. A responsible person does so refrain.

But Matthew Williams – he's not claiming panic. He's claiming righteousness. He's claiming obedience to God. That's not insanity, either. That's a choice. It's a choice of what he will do with his views and attitudes and feelings about gay people. He fears homosexuality, and chooses therefore to hate gay people. And he justifies his hate as obedience to God. One of my seminary professors, Kosuke Koyama, describes so well how this sort of justification of hate works. He says it's an avoidance tactic. Instead of simply saying, “I don't like you” – keeping the feeling in the context of a one-to-one, human relationship – someone will say, “I think God doesn't like you.” Ever hear of triangling? Where you pull a third person into your dispute with someone? At least when that third person is a human being, and can be seen and heard by both of you, there's a chance that both of you will be able to agree about what that person says to you. But Matthew Williams isn't bringing in a person, he's bringing in a book and saying it's a person. He's avoiding any real human relationship, either with others or with himself. He does not let himself think about the wrongness of his hate, and he does not let himself feel the deeper feelings that have given rise to his hate.

There are so many troubled people in our world. Some know and say they are troubled, some do not know or refuse to admit it. We all know that when we ourselves are troubled, it is sometimes hard for us to see things clearly, to know our own hearts, and to do the right thing. We feel compassion for others who we know are struggling with troubles. We know how painful and confusing that struggle can be. Some people feel overwhelmed by their troubles. They act out. Or they repress their feelings. Or they avoid their troubles. Or they try the same things over and over to fix them, to no avail. Some people slosh through their bog of troubles and plod on until they get free and clear. Others get mired. We can try to support them – we can listen, we might be able to help in some way. But ultimately – for anyone who is mentally and emotionally able – it's up to that person to climb out of the bog or the pit of their troubles.

There are so many people in Sacramento. So many of them are troubled. So many of them are desperate. So many of them turn to violence to resolve their troubles – only to create more troubles. Some of the violence has touched us personally, in our work, in our schools, even in the violent death of someone we've known.

And all of this seems so far beyond the power of you or I to affect it. How can any one of us bring peace to such people?

Both Peace Pilgrim and St. Paul tell us in today's readings that the way to bring peace to others and to the world is to build peace within ourselves. Peace Pilgrim – that's the name she chose for herself back in 1953 and wished to be known by, and most have only known her as Mildred Norman since she died in 1981 – Peace Pilgrim focussed on how our desires affect our sense of inner peace. Having good attitudes and living good beliefs, finding your calling and sticking to it – these things, she said, prepare the way for inner peace. That's why we come to church, isn't it? To help us discern what beliefs are good and what attitudes are helpful? To grow together spiritually, both individually and as a community, in order to discern our life's calling and find support to pursue it, and in order to discern and pursue together the calling of our religious community?

Along with these preparations, Peace Pilgrim spoke of purifications and relinquishments. That sounds ominous, but the things she recommends are rather easy to desire to do. Live healthily – good diet, good exercise, good sleep patterns. Don't stew. Don't worry too much about things – have concerns, that's responsible; feel anxiety, that's natural; but don't go over and over these things uselessly and to no purpose. Turn your worry or your negative reactions toward some constructive purpose. Don't get attached to material things. Desire the things that matter. Try to help. Inside you, there is something you might call your lower self, and there is something else you might call your higher self – the one is short-sighted and selfish, the other looks to the big picture and seeks what is best for all. Follow your higher self. Remember, we're all in this together.

That's Peace Pilgrim's message. She summed it up as: “overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” The good, the true, the loving – that's what we should set our sights on, that's what we should be about, what we should affirm and bring into the world. St. Paul agreed. He said: “[W]hatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is [just], whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Like Peace Pilgrim, St. Paul counsels us to desire good things and live them. Like her, he tried to model such living. “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice,” he said. “[P]ut it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

But St. Paul also focussed on fear. “Do not be anxious about anything,” he said, by which he meant something like what Peace Pilgrim meant by “don't worry.” He suggests an alternative, something to do with that anxiety: “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In other words, don't harbor it inside. Let it out. Relinquish it. “[P]resent your requests to God,” he said. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds ...”

What is this “peace of God” that St. Paul talks about? I think it's the same peace that Peace Pilgrim spoke of as inner peace. And it's a peace that is both beyond and not beyond our understanding. Our first hymn this morning described “The Peace Not Past Our Understanding.” Careless noon, houses lighted late, doorways worn at the sill, winter supper warm between four walls, harvest and holiday, plans for long increase – the hymn names these things “the people's peace.” “These,” it says, “are the things we mean by saying, Peace.” Such things are not hard to understand. What can be hard to understand is how to keep them, how to extend them to everybody, how to pass them on to from generation to generation, how to teach them and foster devotion to them. That is the mystery that Peace Pilgrim was drawn to and felt called to pursue.

And in her pursuit of that mystery – the mystery of bringing peace into the world and keeping it – she described her encounter with another mystery, another peace that is beyond our understanding. She called it by many names: a psychological hump, a mountain-top experience, a point of no return, a sense of calmness and serenity and unhurriedness, the beat of a different drummer. This type of experience – whether it seems well within the ordinary human experience of growth and maturing, or whether it seems extraordinary and powerful, like an epiphany or a mystical ecstasy – this is the mystery of the spirit, the religious mystery that all the mystics of every religious tradition or of no religious tradition have described. It comes as if by its own will. It comes when we are ready. It comes most often with a strength we are prepared for – we usually get the dose we need and can handle. And the place we reach after such an experience – the place from which, as Peace Pilgrim put it, we cannot return – that is a place of peace that we understand in our hearts and in our guts when we get there, but which our minds forever fail to find adequate words for. It is a new landscape, a new order of our inner world, which we as newcomers cannot – and should not expect ourselves to be able to – describe. But we can live it out.

Some would say, what's the difference between that and madness? You reach a point of no return. You act on your convictions, but you can't explain those convictions rationally. You talk instead about feelings and about God and about what is right. That's what Matthew Williams is doing. I will not deny the parallels in form. The difference is the content. Matthew Williams is acting out of fear and hate. A true mystic acts out of courage and love. “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” And overcome the power of your inner fears and desires.

Peace Pilgrim's message is like a combination of the two great commandments that Jesus taught – to love God with all that you are, and to love your neighbors – with the Buddha's great achievement of enlightenment. Jesus insisted on living life grounded in love. Buddha, in the moment of his enlightenment, called the earth to witness that he had reached a place of peace where he was moved neither by fear nor by desire. It is that combination – of loving, compassionate motives rooted in a calm inner core of peace – that Peace Pilgrim said each of us can achieve, and that she felt each of us must achieve to the greatest extent possible if world peace is ever to be realized.

Your inner peace does change the world. If you live it. World peace depends upon enough of us at least striving for peace in the core of our own selves. Simplicity, responsible consumption, harmony with and awareness of nature's physical and psychological laws – having compassion instead of just reacting, working for justice instead of despairing over injustice, serving those in need instead of retreating into our own sanctuaries – this is what it takes to create and maintain peace in our world. How these typically small efforts each of us makes can create a peace as large as world peace – that is another mystery, both beyond and not beyond our understanding. It seems impossible. Yet we know the power of love here in our church community. We know how it transforms. We know that miracles happen. We've seen it. Right here.

I've given you a souvenir: a summary of Peace Pilgrim's message, her preparations, purifications and relinquishments, and her description of her own experience of spiritual growth. I believe these are things that are excellent and praiseworthy. Let us rejoice that Peace Pilgrim lived and walked among us! Again I say, rejoice! I invite you to think of these things – the message of peace that Peace Pilgrim brought us, and her description of her spiritual growth and how it compares to your own experience of spiritual life and growth. How are you living your beliefs? How are you working for peace within you and around you? Think on these things. And may the peace that passes understanding be yours. Amen.