--- PEACE ---

With eager heart and will on fire,
I strove to win my great desire.
"Peace shall be mine," I said; but life
Grew bitter in the barren strife.

My soul was weary, and my pride
Was wounded deep; to Heaven I cried,
"God grant me peace or I must die;"
The dumb stars glittered no reply.

Broken at last, I bowed my head,
Forgetting all myself, and said,
"Whatever comes, His will be done;"
And in that moment peace was won.

Were half the power that fills the world with terror,
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts,
Given to redeem the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals or forts.

The warrior's name would be a name abhorr-d!
And every nation that should lift again
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead
Would wear for evermore the curse of Cain!

Down the dark future, through long generations,
The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease;
And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations,
I hear once more the voice of Christ say "Peace!"

Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals
The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies!
But beautiful as songs of the immortals,
The holy melodies of love arise.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is dispair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, an to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

      Keep your heart in peace; let nothing in this world disturb it:
all things have an end.
      In all circumstances, however hard they may be, we should
rejoice, rather than be cast down, that we may not lose the greatest
good, and peace and tranquillity of our souls.
      If the whole world and all that is in it were thrown into
confusion, disquietude on that account would be vanity, because that
disquietude would do more harm than good.
      To endure all things with an equable and peaceful mind, not
only brings with it many blessings to the soul, but also enables us, in
the midst of our difficulties, to have a clear judgment about them, and
to minister the fitting remedy for them.

From his cradle to his grave a man never does a single thing
which has any first and foremost object save one -- to secure peace of
mind, spiritual comfort, for himself.

Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.