The Anchor in the Storm

 

The Anchor in the Storm

A Reflection from the Journal of Ruben White

Amazon.com: From A Civil Rights Pioneer: 100 Poems for the Rejected: A Soul’s Journey Through Fear and Faith: 9798245493275: White, Ruben: Books From My Journal There were seasons when one sharp word could ruin my whole day. A setback at noon, and I'd still be chewing on it at midnight, replaying it on the drive home, letting it pull up a chair at the supper table with me. I wasn't steering my own ship anymore. Somebody else had their hands on the wheel, and I was the one who handed it to them. The weather never changed. The storms kept coming. What changed was me, and it took some painful honesty before God about how much power I had been giving away. Peace started the day I stopped letting another person or another event set the temperature of my heart. I still see the injustice. I still feel the pain. I just refuse to let somebody else's poison become the fuel for my fire. The Moral You cannot control the wind, but you can adjust your sails. Peace is not handed to you by easy days; it is a harvest you grow by choice, seed by seed, morning by morning. For Your Own Life Think back to the last time someone's words followed you home. Who was steering then? Peace doesn't ask you to pretend the storm isn't real. It asks you to decide where you drop anchor. So try this, starting today. The next time a headline, a text message, or a hard word lands on you, wait before you answer. Take ten slow breaths and ask yourself one question: Is this mine to carry, or am I picking up somebody else's stone? Then take a pen and name one place you've been handing over the helm. A person. A news feed. An old argument you keep winning in your head at two in the morning. Write it down, and take the wheel back. Scripture “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (KJV) Words to Carry “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love Keep your lamp trimmed. The ships will keep passing in the dark, and somebody out there is steering by your light. #innerpeace #faithoverfear🙏 #mentalhealth #civilrights #blackauthors