Peace on Earth?

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

A few days ago Elder Fairhurst shared a headline with me as he was reading our hometown newspaper on-line. It was about the most recent attack, the latest massacre. The nation, cause or incident is not the premise for this post. It seems like there's always some battle, or attack, or slaughter at the center of the nightly news and screaming from the front page of each newspaper. Some shocking evidence of inhumanity that incites fear and sadness. I listened to some of the sorrowful details then responded with a sigh and said; "There will never be peace in this world."
After I mulled that over for a while, I realized that I had misspoken. This world will never be at peace, until the Savior of mankind returns. That is true. But there is peace in this world. I thought back to my blog post on sanctuaries. There are many places of peace in this world. More importantly, each one of us can be at peace  regardless of what goes on around us. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. As we strive to be his disciples and exercise faith in him. we can feel of His peace. That is a reassuring truth, for His peace can not be taken from us.

Monday we returned to Apsan park. This time with fourteen young energetic missionaries. We had so much fun. We met at the subway transfer station then rode to the subway stop closest to the entrance of the park. Then the hike began. I am sure we were quite a sight as we walked the streets until we entered the park. Yet even with the laughter and chatter of our group, the park was as beautiful and peaceful as I remembered. I wanted to bottle the wonderful cool pine scented air and take it home. We decided to take a different path than we did the time before. A few minutes into the park we came to a Korean War memorial and museum. I was a little surprised that all of the missionaries wanted to stop, pleasantly surprised. Our Korean museum guide shared the history of her country with deep feeling. The young missionary that leads our District translated. I was amazed at how little I really knew about that war. I knew even less about the extreme hardships the Korean people have endured. I was moved to tears several times. One story was especially disturbing. The South Korean army was ill prepared and poorly equipped to fight against the invading North Korean army. They suffered devastating losses and their army was decimated. It got so bad that they had to draft middle-school boys into the army. Eleven, twelve and thirteen year old boys were armed and sent to battle. I have three grandsons that age. The thought of such a thing broke my heart. Our tour guide expressed how grateful the Korean people were for the Americans. At the end of the tour I asked our District leader to translate something for me. I simply said, "It makes me sad that your country has had to go through so much., but you have become very strong." She responded with warmth. I only understood two words. Megook and chingu. America and friend. This was an experience I hope I never forget. Those headlines and broadcasts of war are about real people. Children of our Heavenly Father. Our brothers and sisters. No matter the political stand, we should have empathy for them. We should pray for them. We should pray for peace.