Let it come
like wildflowers,
suddenly, because the field
must have it: wildpeace.”

-from Wildpeace by Yehuda Amichai

This line, shared by Jan Phillips in her email this morning, struck me: this notion of wild peace. The kind that flows naturally, the kind you let happen, like wildflowers in a field that must have it.

After I attended a workshop Jan led, at which I created this photo from collected items of nature surrounding the suburban church where it was held. Wild Peace shall now be the name of this image. It resonates so deeply. We long for peace. Within our world. Within our country. Within our families. Within our bodies.

We, in fact, fight for peace. (What kind of oxymoron is that!?) And I understand the need to fight for peace for sure. Intellectually at least. It’s just that it’s never really landed right within my body and soul. Peacemaking and justice bringing. Waging peace instead of war requires right action. God bless us when we work and act and fight for peace. And also I wonder if there is also a way toward peace that rests within us and comes from the wildness within. Wildness like wildflowers. A wild peace we can lean into and begin to practice and believe and allow to flow.

For our world, our country, our community, our family and ourselves. A wild, wild peace. I invite you to sit with the above image and the notion of wild peace for a moment or more.
How is it speaking to you? Expanding you? Expanding your notion of peacemaking?

This reflection was written by Kim Verriere. She is a trained spiritual director as well as partner and friend of Retreat House Spirituality Center. Learn more about Kim.

Retreat House Spirituality Center co-sponsored a workshop by Jan Phillips in October 2023. Watch this interview with Phillips and our co-founder Rev. Dr. Lil Smith.