Observing a courageous person, it is easy to notice that he/she is active, but not hasty, alert, but not overly excited. Courage is always linked with other ingredient of faith: deep inner peace. "If they ask you, "What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest'", says Jesus in the gospel of Thomas.

People who acts without consciousness of peace, often make serious mistakes and misuse their powers. Having good intentions, they remain blind to possible consequences of their choices. This is why we are encouraged to "enter into God's rest" first.

"Let us labor to enter into that rest" (Hebrews 4:11). Inner peace does not come by itself. It is achieved through intense inner work of meditation and realization of indwelling God's presence. But this work worth our time and efforts, because it guarantees the success of our further endeavours.

"For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works" (Hebrews 4:10). These words explain the importance of having the consciousness of peace. When we enter into God's rest, we become attuned to divine inspiration and ideas in greater degree. We "cease from our works" not in a sense that we are not doing anything now - this would be ridiculous. No, we simply quit doing things on our own accord. We cease to stimulated by such emotions as fear, anger, guilt, envy, and so forth, because they have no existence in the realm of God's pure ideas.

"Ceasing from our works" means letting go of compulsive attempts to protect ourselves. The key word here is "our": we should not be self-centered and self-seeking. If we give our undivided attention to serving the world and people with our gifts and talents, we are not conscious of our personal security. It means, we are willing to take a risk and to act in true faith.

But how do acquire the consciousness of peace? Through meditation, which is often called "entering the silence". Peace comes from the Christ within, and meditation is a process of contacting the divine spark we all have.

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27), says Jesus. Peace does not come, and would never come from the world of appearances, or outward manifestations. "In the world you shall have tribulation". Some events which are beyond our sphere of influence will often seem dangerous and even frightening. Those who rely on things or relationships of the world, will sooner or later be disappointed. But those who keep close contact with the Source, will be victorious.

Here is what Emilie Cady wrote on results of "entering the silence":

"You will have a strange new consciousness of serenity and quiet, a feeling that something has been done, that some new power to overcome has come to you. You will be able to say, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30), with a new meaning, a new sense of reality and awe that will make you feel very still. Oh! How one conscious touch of the Oversoul makes all life seem different! All the hard things become easy; the troublesome things no longer have power to worry; the rasping people and things of the world lose all power to annoy. Why? Because, for the time, we see things from the Christ side of ourselves; we see as He sees".

Knowing the importance of peace, let us also be sensitive to manipulations of those who are trying to upset our emotional balance and to take advantage of us. Even our positive emotions, when they are not controlled, are potentially hazardous. When we are assaulted by raging feelings, it is better to calm them down first - especially if we are told that we need to act right now. "Take a second look, it costs nothing".We often find that our first impression was wrong or incomplete.

Let us enter into God's rest by meditating upon an idea of peace and by affirming peace. Here is the example of positive declarations we may use: