This is a translation from the Russian book of daily scriptural meditations, “Day by Day”. Lewis connections follow:
"Scripture: “My peace I give you” (John: 14, 27)
"Meditation:
"Lord, give me Your peace as well! I do not have the peaceful spirit of humility, I know that no efforts, no reflections will get me to achieve it, since it is above all reasoning. Calm my anxious, egotistical and restless soul, as a mother calms a crying child. I do not know how You will do this, but I know that when a child is still unable to come to its mother, the mother hurries to it, and You are closer than any mother.
“You are the Almighty Father, you instill light and life into all things. Shine your light on me and fill my soul with your peace. I cannot penetrate the depth of Your love, but I know that You so loved the world that You sent Your only begotten Son in order to save this world and me. I know that Your love covers the whole world and me. I know that You bring peace on earth and good will among men, and that Your peace also calms my anxious soul, and Your mercy also extends to me, the first among sinners.”
Here are some of Lewis’s references to “peace” which come to mind:
From a letter to Owen Barfield of June 2, 1940:
“Do you get sudden lucid intervals? islands of profound peace? I do: and though they don’t last, I think one brings something away from them.”
From Chapter 3 of The Magician’s Nephew (“The Wood Between the Worlds”):
“Digory was standing by the edge of a small pool – not more than ten feet from side to side – in a wood. The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves: but there must have been a very strong sun overhead, for this green daylight was bright and warm. It was the quietest wood you could possibly imagine. There were no birds, no insects, no animals, and no wind. You could almost feel the trees growing.”
And from “A Grief Observed”, where Lewis initially rails against God for his suffering. He tries to understand why this is happening to him, but eventually, towards the end of the diary, he writes:
"When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of ‘No answer’. It is not the locked door [which Lewis had felt before]. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.’ "
Dimitry
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)