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How to maintain peace in your soul when world news disrupts it

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Philip Kosloski - published on 11/15/19

It doesn't take long to scroll through your social media feed to find a bit of news that makes you angry, sad or both.

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How many times do you scroll through your social media feed or visit a news site and find something that creates feelings of anger or sadness? Unfortunately, news sites tend to report only what is wrong with the world, and that can leave us in a state of depression.

Yet, for a Christian, these things need to be put in their proper place. God desires peace in our soul and world events shouldn’t disrupt it.

St. John of the Cross, in his Sayings of Light and Love, explains this spiritual disposition.

Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it; reflect that all must come to an end.

While his words are brief and to the point, he does make a good point: “all must come to an end.” It’s true that war and violence continue to envelop the world and we can only do so much about it. We need to keep in mind that all the suffering in the world will come to an end, even our own suffering.

This world is only temporary and the bad things that happen in it, last for a short time. We do have a responsibility to do good, and promote peace and justice in the world. However, most of us have a very limited realm of influence. We can only do so much and after we have done all that we can, we need to give it to God. He will take care of it and order all things for the ultimate good of humanity.

When we see the terrible things that are happening in the world, we can’t let it disturb our peace. We need to keep everything in perspective and trust that God has a plan. If we are able to recognize this reality, the world news won’t get under our skin, because we know who is in charge.

Remember, do what you can, but leave the rest to God. He has more influence than we could ever have.


BIBLE

Read more:
A form of meditation where you find peace reading the Gospel


PRAYER

Read more:
Find peace in God’s will for your life with this prayer

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