Following in the Way of Peace – Holly Fortier

Following in the Way of Peace
Holly Fortier

This has been quite the year… The COVID-19 pandemic, shut down and stay at home orders, loss of jobs and businesses, work and school from home, isolation, fragile mental health issues, racial tension and uprising…  and many other devastating events.  I am sure you, dear reader, have been impacted in one way or another.  

Yet!  I do know – no matter the chaos, suffering, confusion – you can find peace. PEACE.

I was so honoured to get a call from Melinda Estabrooks to have a conversation on See Hear Love.  It’s the Christmas season and our topic is peace.  First of all, we had so many technical problems that I did not feel peace even when we finally started rolling. But the message is always the same, no matter what we go through, we may have peace.

I have not always been able to feel peaceful.  

I am a First Nation woman and my mom was abducted from a loving family and home…to spend the next 13 years in one of Canada’s 134 Indian Residential Schools.  

Here is her story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip3yGEKGCX4

The legacy of Residential School still impacts Indian Residential School survivors.  We witness how the historical trauma has affected our Indigenous families and communities.   And we still today deal with racism.

 The result for me personally… I was dealing with anger and hurt. 

But one Christmas, when I was 20 years old, I had a personal experience with the Prince of Peace. Everything changed from that moment on for me.  I continually work on my healing and developed a deep desire to reconcile.  I became a student of the Bible and followed the Jesus Way.  Life still had chaos, suffering, confusion along the way.  But, I have a personal relationship with a God that is ever present.  I am always comforted when I pray, read the scriptures, sing songs of worship.

And you may experience that Peace too.  

I memorized this verse many years ago and it is still my favourite.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Wherever and whatever your story is, please know you are deeply loved by our Creator.

~Shalom

Holly Fortier