Peace Through Acceptance

In setting out on the journey of writing this book, I find myself asking a simple question: what is its purpose? What, if anything, might be different for you by the time you reach the end? I want to be clear from the outset, so that you can decide whether this is worthy of your time.

Most people I have met, and I include myself, spend their lives seeking happiness. That is not a controversial observation. What I have come to believe, however, is that a more stable and dignified way of living is not to seek happiness as a goal, but to seek peace.

Life moves in ebbs and flows. There are moments of genuine happiness, and there are seasons of anxiety, sorrow, and even despair. There will be times when happiness feels not only distant, but inappropriate — when illness touches your family, when a child suffers, when circumstances cannot be wished away. No one, rich or poor, is immune from suffering. Peace, however, can be present in every state: in joy and in anxiety, in hope and in uncertainty.

It is my hope that, by the time we reach the end of this book together, you will have discovered a deeper sense of peace in your daily life — and that this peace, arrived at by a route you may not have considered, will have quietly enriched your happiness as well.

It is important to make one final distinction. Peace, as it is understood here, is not passive. Many of the people I have known — musicians and artists, business owners, and others who wish to contribute something meaningful to the world — are driven by a desire to use their gifts well, to build, to create, and to move forward in life. If you recognise yourself in this, we may have much in common.

Peace does not diminish this impulse. On the contrary, it can lead you into creative and energetic paths you may never have imagined. It is a state of being grounded and at ease with yourself, from which purposeful action becomes possible. When peace is rightly understood, it does not lead away from achievement, but toward it — with the quiet knowledge that our strength, and every blessing that follows, comes from above.

Martin Johnson is an English Catholic Hammond B3 organist, songwriter, and author. His writings form part of the forthcoming book Not Proud Always Grateful: Peace Through Acceptance.