Thaddeus of Vitovnica: How To Create Peace

“Our starting point is always wrong. Instead of beginning with ourselves, we always want to change others first and ourselves last. If everyone would begin first with themselves, then there would be peace all around!”

Thaddeus of Vitovnica, from Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Hopefully, the preceding quote from Thaddeus of Vitovnica will inspire you to find a quiet place and look inward. If we understand how to create peace for ourselves, it will only be the beginning for us and those we love.

Share this saying with others in your family. Help them find there own quiet place. If you are a husband, do something to give your wife some time alone(this may mean watching the kids!), if you are a wife, do the same. Be an example for your children and teach them how to spend time in a quiet place. In a world that is constantly trying to stimulate us, there is probably nothing better you could do for their mental health.

How do we do this as a family? How do we teach them how to create peace? We make the effort to find stillness. We build a fire, grab a bag of marshmallows, turn off the electronics and go outside. We make frequent trips to the library. We eat dinner together without distractions. My wife and I make sure the kids see us praying, reading, and making time for ourselves to just think.

If you want peace in your house, and peace in your life, it begins by finding a quiet place, looking deep within yourself, and then taking responsibility for the things in us that we need to change. It isn’t so much how to create peace, it is more how to look inward with hope, honesty, and a desire to live with peace.