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“Peace in this life is based upon faith and testimony.”

James E. Faust

Violence, war, and news of war are persistent in human experience. Any history, including scriptural history, seems merely to alternate from war to brief peace and back to war. And if (as is rare) a current newspaper fails to report war somewhere, it is probably by oversight or out of weariness. The drone of violence never relents. Yet the Savior promised peace.

In his play about the martyrdom of Thomas á Becket, T. S. Eliot has a touching scene in which Becket, who senses that he is soon to suffer death, delivers a sermon on Christmas morning, A.D. 1170. His text is “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” (Luke 2:14, Vulgate version.) As he addresses his flock for the last time, the archbishop discusses this announcement of peace:

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Christ in a Red Robe, by Minerva Teichert, seemed the perfect painting to depict the scripture that we chose for this evening: “I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15). Christ looks so welcoming with His arms outstretched toward us. Just as He invited the Nephites to “arise and come forth unto me” (3 Nephi 11:15), so He invites each of us to come, one by one, to Him, that we too may know that He is “the God of … the whole earth, and [has] been slain for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11:14). We learn how it feels to be encircled in His love when we accept that invitation.

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“The Savior’s invitation is clear and direct, and importantly for us, it is constant: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. . . . Take my yoke upon you, . . . for . . . my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28-30). This is the Lord’s promise to me and to you.

“My prayer for each of us is that we will remember when the Lord has spoken His peace to us and has encircled us in the arms of His love. And just as important, will you, if you haven’t felt that love for a while, seek to see it and feel it as you go about the ordinary tasks of your life. As you do this, over the days and months and years of your life, the memories of those interactions with the Lord will become sweet gifts to open a second time–or many times–to bolster you when life is difficult.

” ‘Peace I give unto you,’ the Lord promises, ‘not as the world giveth, give I unto you’ (John 14:27). Peace. Strength. It is what we long for and what is possible. We only need to turn toward His reaching arms.”

Kathleen H. Hughes, “Remembering the Lord’s Love,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 112

“This is a troubled world. Discord and disaster are everywhere. It sometimes feels as though mankind itself may be hanging in the balance.

“Foreshadowing our day, the Lord said, ‘The heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve’ (Moses 7:61; emphasis added). We should take great comfort in this promise.”

Keith B. McMullin, “Our Path of Duty,” Ensign, May 2010, 13

The young men here tonight have received some wonderful counsel. I hope they have listened well and that their lives will be touched for good as a result.

I have chosen to speak to the fathers. You already know what I am going to talk about. Your wives have reminded you that this will be my subject tonight. I told them so at the Relief Society conference two weeks ago. I may say some of the same things to you that I said to them. I remind you that repetition is a law of learning.

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“There is no peace in reflecting on the pain of old wounds. There is peace only in repentance and forgiveness. This is the sweet peace of the Christ, who said, ‘blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ (Matt. 5:9.)”

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Jun 1991, 2

“It is not easy to be at peace in today’s troubled world. Necessarily peace is a personal acquisition. … It can be attained only through maintaining constantly a repentant attitude, seeking forgiveness of sins both large and small, and thus coming ever closer to God.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006),34–45