More Words with Ann Swindell about ‘The Path to Peace’

Ann Swindell talked with Common Good editors about her 2022 book, The Path to Peace. Here’s that conversation.

To what extent is peace internal versus external?

Our culture tells us that peace is experienced through external circumstances: a vacation on a sandy beach or a day at the spa. While these situations offer momentary feelings of tranquility, they’re fleeting. The beautiful news of the gospel is that we have access to internal, lasting peace no matter what circumstance we’re facing because we are in Christ. In fact, when trouble comes, Jesus declares that we can find true peace — rest for our souls — in him (John 16:33). This is an unshakable peace that’s not dependent upon circumstance but upon the unchanging nature of God (Heb 13:8).

Overwhelmed, burnt out, just really busy. How can you tell the difference?

For me, at least, overwhelm tends to come in waves — I’ll look at my calendar and realize what’s ahead for the week and feel the mounting pressure of it all. I think being burnt out stems from being in an unsustainable season of life that keeps us from healthy rhythms, margin, and rejuvenating input. Busyness is the drug of our age, and it’s not surprising that sometimes we turn to more busyness rather than face the ache we feel on the inside.

The gospel addresses all of these experiences. To those who are overwhelmed, Jesus gives us the loving command to “cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7) and to ask for his presence and peace in our daily lives. For those of us who find ourselves burnt out, Jesus’ model of retreating for a time of solitude, prayer, and rest is a healing one (see Luke 5:16, Mark 6:30–32). And for those of us burdened — and tempted — by busyness, we are called to abide in him, learning that nothing we do apart from him will bear fruit, no matter how full our schedules (John 15:4–5).

Presumably, the 40-day organization forces you to leave out material you’d like to have included. Now a few years from the writing, what would include that you didn’t?

I’d love to add a section about parenting, and about the pressure that many of us feel to “get it right” all the time as parents, even as we know we’re not parenting perfectly.  This tension can lead to a lot of stress. But the peace of Christ is available to us as parents. This new section would lean on the disciplines of prayer and gospel modeling in our homes as the antidote to stress and fear as we let our children see what we love and who we love by how we spend our time, by how we trust the Lord in trials, and by how we are learning to love the Word alongside of them.