Docents of Glory: Gerard Manley Hopkins (3)

“Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace…" Ezekiel 13.10

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14.27

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4.7

A world without peace
It never fails. Listen to people being interviewed on the street. Read the latest polls asking what people want most in life. Pay attention to the ads on TV offering all manner of drugs designed to deliver us from anxiety, help us get some sleep, or allow us to feel better about ourselves and our situation. They all point in a similar direction: People want peace. They want peace among the nations of the world, sure; but primarily, they want to be at peace within their souls. They’re tired of living full of worries, doubts, fears, and uncertainties. Every day they struggle for some peace, just a little peace and quiet in the midst of their relentlessly hectic lives.

And yet, as the polls and interviews and ads make clear, peace is elusive. “Peace, peace!” the people cry, but there is no peace.

Every reminder that ours is a world desperate for some peace is an opportunity for showing others the glory and grandeur and beauty of Him alone Who can bring us lasting, guarding peace.

Undergirding peace
Gerard Manley Hopkins knew precious little peace during the course of his lifetime. A Jesuit priest, Hopkins was posted in some very difficult calls, for which he felt largely unsuited, and where he was as often as not ill, troubled, and filled with self-doubt.

But Hopkins knew where to find peace, the peace that remains, and he shows us in his wonderful little poem by that name:

When will you ever, Peace, wild wooddove, shy wings shut,
Your round me roaming end, and under be my boughs?
When, when, Peace, will you, Peace? I’ll not play hypocrite
To own my heart: I yield you do come sometimes; but
That piecemeal peace is poor peace. What pure peace allows
Alarms of wars, the daunting wars, the death of it?

O surely, reaving Peace, my Lord should leave in lieu
Some good! And so he does leave Patience exquisite,
That plumes to Peace thereafter. And when Peace here does house
He comes with work to do, he does not come to sit and coo,
                  He comes to brood and sit.

Peace was an elusive state for Hopkins, like a wood dove, roaming and flitting and never staying around for very long. He longed to know an upholding peace, a peace that would come to “brood and sit” and work its blessings on him. He admits to knowing this peace fleetingly, but he declares it’s not enough; and what kind of “peace” is it anyway, that allows wars to ravage the world?

But Hopkins knew the key to peace is patience – longsuffering. Bearing up under trials and disappointments, waiting for the peace that passes understandings, ushers us into the Peace Who never fails us nor forsakes us, and Who works eternal peace into our souls.

Peace and happiness
Peace is related to happiness, and, for most people, happiness is grounded in circumstances. When circumstances are favorable, peace folds its “shy wings” and happiness settles in and coos for a while. When circumstances change, then peace and happiness flit away and roam around us, ever elusive, never constant, always fleeting.

The peace Hopkins sought for himself was the peace only Jesus can bring, but he had to remind himself of that over and over again. The same is true for everyone. As Augustine observed, the human heart is in a state of perpetual disquiet until it comes to rest on the undergirding peace of Jesus.

Can we talk to the people around us about peace and happiness, about what brings us peace or what makes us happy, and why? Can we use such an opportunity both to identify with them in our desire for lasting peace and happiness, and to share with them about the Peace Who has come to “house” in our souls, to “brood and sit” and hatch that sense of wellbeing that allows us, come what may, to rejoice in the Lord and His love?

All manner of human emotions and aspirations can remind us that all our greatest joy and highest hopes are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. If we’re paying attention, and if, with great patience and love, we can talk with the people around us about the true nature of peace, we may be able to close the glory gap a little, and point a friend to the Peace Who passes all understanding.

For reflection
1.  When do you most experience the peace of Jesus? How would you describe that experience?

2.  How does the peace of Jesus sustain you when other things are going wrong?

3.  Can you see yourself talking with someone about peace and happiness and how they achieve these? Ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to do so soon.

Next steps: How can believers help one another to know more of the peace of Jesus, more of the time? Talk with a Christian friend about this question.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.