The True Joy of Positive Living by Norman Vincent Peale

Author:Norman Vincent Peale
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504023320
Publisher: Open Road Media

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Pace Steps Up

A fast-paced, exciting life can produce a tension and stress that destroy, or it can result in a strong life thrust that moves ever faster but still remains under control. When a life is lived in an attitude of complete faith in Christ, there is peace at the center and inevitably power flows from inner quietness. The streams that turn the machinery of the world rise in quiet places. As Edwin Markham put it, “At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky is a place of central calm.”

By nature I am prone to stress and tension. But Jesus Christ has given me inner peace and with it the quietness of mind that produces continuous energy along with the capacity to regulate it. Ever since I met Jesus and gave my life into His hands I have had the gift of vitality, energy, health, and enthusiasm. It is a secret I had the rare good fortune to find. And ever since finding it I have been speaking and writing in an effort to convince others that they, too, can find the same incredible secret.

In New York the pace of life stepped up. I took on more responsibilities, became involved in an increasing number of activities, embarked upon additional book-writing projects, and moved out onto the national speaking circuit.

There was a member of my church, Harold Peat, who was famous at the time as “Private” Peat, so-called because he was a rather prominent veteran and character of World War I.

He was a gifted man: imaginative, fluent of speech, highly articulate with a consummate ability to describe the life of a soldier in the First World War. Harold had brought home from the front some captured German guns, gas masks, helmets, and other military equipment. These items he used as props in speeches before large audiences throughout the country.

About this time I accepted an invitation to speak at a dinner attended by what were described as “rising young New York executives on their way to the top.” The dinner, with some three hundred men, was held at the University Club. I was seated between two pleasant fellows whose company was enjoyable. One remarked, “This is the closest I’ve been to a minister in a long time.” The other assented to this statement. “You said it. It’s the nearest I’ve gotten to a pastor since I was married.”

“Well, you two guys are getting up in the world,” I responded jocularly.

Then I turned to the one on the left. “What church do you belong to?” He named a Westchester Episcopalian church but added, “I’m not a regular attendant. In fact, they only see me on Easter. You see, I take my religion in my wife’s name. She goes pretty often, takes the kids to Sunday School.”

I turned to the bright young executive on my right. “And what is your record of churchgoing?” I asked.

“Well, you see, it’s like this. My parents were good solid Presbyterians, and they made us go to church every Sunday.

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