The peace that the world can give to us is not a negative peace. It is real and it is good but it is fragile and inadequate. It is fragile because it can easily be taken away from us. Peace as we experience it ordinarily in our lives, is generally predicated on feeling healthy, loved, and secure. But all of these are fragile. . . . We live inside an anxious peace. What Jesus offers is a peace that is not fragile, that is already beyond fear and anxiety, that does not depend upon feeling healthy, secure, and loved in this world. . .That’s the meta narrative we need in order to keep our perspective during the ups and downs of our lives. We are like actors in a play. We know that we will triumph in the end, just as we know that we will have some rocky scenes before the ending. If we keep that in mind, we can more patiently bear the seeming death-dealing tragedies that befall us. We are being held unconditionally by the source of life itself, God.

-Ron Rolheiser