Today’s post in the Periclean Scholars and fruits of the spirit series is on peace. Peace is the tranquility in the soul that is not affected by outside pressure. Those who express the fruit of peace have inner stability that allows orderly, stable conduct in chaotic, nerve-racking, or traumatic circumstances.
There was one experience during my time in Zambia where I felt a sense of urgency and pressure. We were laying bricks, mixing cement, digging out the latrine, and putting in backfill. I was tired, so I took a quick water break. When I sat down, I noticed a mother holding her child. The child had a softball-sized open gash in his thigh. He was not crying, and there was no traumatic event that anyone had witnessed. It seemed that his mother had brought him over in hopes that we could help. In any normal situation, the immediate response would be to grab the nearest first aid kit and administer cleaning solution and bandages. However, we had recently agreed in a community meeting to not give out items to individuals in the village if there were not enough for everyone. My inner compass told me to act. I asked the leader of Team Eagle, Tom, if I could go ahead and get the first aid kit to assist the child. He said go ahead, so I ran back to our quarters for a first aid kit. My fellow Periclean, Brandy, cleaned and bandaged the wound, and the child was as good as new.
One of the reasons why my soul was at peace during this crisis was because of the bigger picture. I had a firm understanding on why I had to do what I had to do. I knew that I had the skill and resources to act in the situation, if deemed appropriate. Most importantly, my soul was at peace because of our vision for the future. We would work to end this circumstance from happening again. This event, as well as many others, cemented our desire to return to Kawama and start a clinic. We were not powerless; we now had additional justification to take action.
Circumstances of upheaval and discomfort are those which test our inner peace. Performing work alongside the Zambian people meant that I would feel at least some discomfort, and I also knew that some upheaval could result from this. The Periclean program encourages peace of the spirit by helping us to realize the positive benefits of our service and the opportunity to remain connected with our partners. We are taught to believe that societies are different - and that one society is not better than another. Therefore, we come into a situation as foreigners with the understanding that there will be some discomfort, but there is no need to lose our inner peace and sense of well-being. Everything we did was a learning experience and had value in the long run - even those little moments of crisis.
Tranquility from within allowed the fruit of peace to be expressed on Zambian soil. The situation with the injured child could have been a chaotic situation that involved more people in the village, or I could have stressed out about it and upset the poor child or his mother. There was a good amount of pressure on me from different angles, but I remained calm and did what I had to do. In retrospect, it even gave us one more reason to build the clinic in Kawama. I am thankful that the Periclean program allowed me the opportunity to have an impact in a situation of potential chaos, enabling me to grow the fruit of peace.
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