Maybe Something We Remember

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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
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Quizás algo que recordemos
—por David Ault

Creedme cuando os digo que desearía poder ofreceros algo así como un instante de paz, una sola frase o práctica que os devolviera inmediatamente a la serenidad. Algo simple y universal. Un camino universal para reencontrarse con el centro.

Pero la verdad es que ser humano no funciona así.

No hay una sola puerta que sirva para tod@s. No hay una sola instrucción que tenga el mismo efecto en cada sistema nervioso, en cada historia, en cada corazón. Y no quiero añadir más ruido al tema.


Porque últimamente parece que a dondequiera que mires hay alguien diciéndote cómo debes actuar. Cómo debes sentirte, responder o comportarte.



Los "deberías" son interminables.

Abre cualquier noticia o red social y encontrarás otra voz que prescribe la postura espiritual correcta, la respuesta emocional adecuada, la manera correcta de estar despiert@, consciente o evolucionad@.


Por supuesto, es agotador.


Así que, en lugar de ofrecer algo nuevo o ingenioso, vuelvo a un par de frases muy antiguas y sencillas que me han acompañado durante años.


Una de ellas es esta de mis tiempos de profesor:

Incluso en la aparente ausencia de…
Incluso en la aparente ausencia de paz, hay paz. Incluso en la aparente ausencia de orden, hay orden. Incluso en la aparente ausencia de Dios, hay Dios. Si esto es cierto —si la paz, el orden o la presencia no han desaparecido realmente— entonces la pregunta se vuelve personal. No: ¿Qué deben hacer ellos? Sino: ¿Qué debo hacer yo para volver a sentirlo?


¿Cómo puedo suavizar mi perspectiva lo suficiente como para notar lo que no se ha ido? ¿Cómo puedo liberarme del ruido el tiempo suficiente para reconectar?


Otra frase que me ha dado serenidad últimamente es aún más sencilla:
Dondequiera que miro, veo lo que busco.


Si busco en el mundo pruebas de que todo está roto, las encontraré al instante. Si busco indignación, ahí está. Si busco miedo, está por todas partes.


Pero si lo único que elijo buscar es a Dios —o amor, o armonía, o inteligencia, o compasión— entonces eso es lo que empieza a aparecer.


Así que la única opción real que parece que tengo es esta: ¿Qué estoy buscando? Y si no lo veo, entonces tal vez se me está pidiendo que yo sea eso.


Ser la calma, el oyente, la firmeza. Ser las manos y los pies de aquello en lo que digo creer.

No como una actuación ni como una estrategia conceptual, simplemente en silencio, en la forma en que vivo el día a día.

No busco seguidores ni resultados, ni intento ganar discusiones. Y tampoco alejo a nadie. Practico estar presente en el hacer.

Sin perseguir. Sin aferrarme. Sin represalias.

Confío en que mi misión se revelará a su debido tiempo, que las personas adecuadas llegarán hasta aquí, y que otras no, y eso está bien.


Tiene que estar bien. Porque quizás la paz nunca fue algo que construimos. Quizás es algo que recordamos.



Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te identificas con la idea de que "incluso en la aparente ausencia de paz, hay paz"? ¿Que lo que buscamos no ha desaparecido, sino que nos invita a ser más flexibles para volver a sentirlo? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de alguna ocasión en la que descubriste que estabas viendo exactamente lo que buscabas, ya fuera fragilidad y miedo o algo más cercano al amor y al cuidado? ¿Qué te ayuda a practicar ser la calma, la escucha activa o la serenidad que deseas ver, no como una actuación, sino simplemente en silencio, en la forma en que te comportas en tu día a día?




David Ault es pastor y fundador de la Fundación Kaleidoscope, dedicada a la educación de niños en zonas desfavorecidas.
Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion that "even in the apparent absence of peace, there is peace" - that what we're searching for hasn't actually disappeared but is asking us to soften enough to sense it again? Can you share a personal story of a time when you discovered that you were seeing exactly what you were looking for, whether that was brokenness and fear or something closer to love and care? What helps you practice being the calm or the listener or the steadiness you wish to see, not as a performance but just quietly in the way you move through your day?

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Add Your Reflection

15 Past Reflections
TT
May 2, 2026
I am extremely touchedby what i read :-it's a very gd piece.I read it twice but it stil resonates...:-MAY BE PEACE IS NOT SOMETHING WE MANUFACTURE BUT REMEMBER....i have received many more insights as well...many thanks...TEWODROS TESSEMA OR TEDDY FROM ETHIOPIA
SS
Apr 30, 2026
People also ask
What is a famous quote about peace?
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." "Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means." "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."
B
BarbaraS. May 12, 2026
Beautiful, thank you for the quotes!
GL
Apr 29, 2026
Reminds me of the book by Marianne Williamson - return to love.
GL
Glenn Apr 29, 2026
A Return to Love 💕
KR
Kim Rajdev
Apr 28, 2026
I really appreciated this post. The reminder that there is no "right way" to do things or reach what it is I'm searching for. I find simple acceptance often brings so much awareness and openness to what is already going well. And the reminder to see the good - in people, in nature, in experience...it is so true we can easily see what we are looking for, and even in the gloomiest days of winter I found that if I looked for something beautiful, I could easily find it.
AP
Apr 28, 2026
Only Glance at those endless "Shoulds" ; Decipher the "Coulds" ; Adopt the "Goods by God" !!!
LI
Lian
Apr 28, 2026
Thank you. More than any other day, I needed to hear (read) someone else say similar words to what I tell people every day. This is more beautiful.
DF
Apr 28, 2026
This is so lovely. I am currently part of a team teaching mediation and I will incorporate these beautiful mantras. Thanks so much.
B
Apr 28, 2026
When we look out at the world and only see the negative aspects, the hate, the greed, the pain, we tend to only see that. I know someone who basically felt the world was out to get her and then she seemed to attract negative events and happenings. When I was young I didn't have a good health esteem for myself but came to realize we are all manifestations of the Divine and we are beauty in and of itself. We are all trying to do and be the best we can. I wish to be a peaceful vibrational being and be of service to others. Be Loving Awareness as Ram Dass says. Be present in the moment.
JP
Apr 24, 2026
It seems to me that we are looking for truth, love, joy or peace and fulfilling relationships from outside of us. It comes from within. We tend to forget that what we are looking for is right in front of our eyes.There is a beautiful saying in Sanskrit ''Tad dure tad antike." What seems to be far is right now in front of me." We live in illusion. There is a beautiful poem that conveys this truth. A musk deer wandering on the Himalayan mountains is searching for the enchanting fragrance he is smelling. The deer travels here and there . He is looking for the source of the fragrance. The deer does not know that the fragrance is coming from his navel center.
Sadly we get tired of looking for the fragrance from outside. We need to open our eyes to see that joy, happiness and love come from within.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
DD
Apr 24, 2026
As Anais Nin said, we don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Peace, like happiness, is within us. It is for us to live in a way that we are in harmony with self and in harmony with peace. I went through a long period of life thinking I was broken, not right, and sought fixing in various teachers and helpers. Eventually I realized I was okay, enough just as I am, and needed to accept and be who I am, allow me and live me, which was the beginning of self care and self love. What I was looking for was within me. I gave up on performing and grew in being who and what I am, gave up on making a presentation and increased being present. When accepting and being myself, I feel calm and steady, I'm a better listener, and I relate better. When accepting and being myself, I feel the peace and happiness I was looking for.
AJ
Apr 23, 2026
I love this reading! The second from final sentence nails it! “Because peace was never something we manufacture.” (Maybe it ‘s simply something we are.) It is said, If I want love, peace, light … I have to be it. (And since God IS all of these… I try to keep Him “remembered” … central in my heart and mind … routinely!)
Will further ponder this one!
VI
Apr 23, 2026
Beautiful ...... 'Maybe peace is something we remember.'

❤️
AM
Apr 23, 2026
What lands for me here is not a new practice, but a remembering. I was raised in a Quakerism context, where the language of “Friends” wasn’t metaphor—it was grammar. A way of speaking that assumes the heart is already present. That there is that of God in each of us, even when it feels obscured. Alongside that, I was shaped by the teachings of George Gurdjieff—where attention itself is a practice. Where remembering is not sentimental, but disciplined. A returning again and again to presence, through the body, through awareness, through the friction of being human. So this line—“even in the apparent absence of peace, there is peace”— doesn’t feel like something to achieve. It feels like something that requires participation. A softening, yes— and also a conscious remembering. In my own life, this has taken form in what my partner and I call making peacetime— a living practice between us as two wandering wayfinders. Not an idea, but a dai... View full comment