The first time I heard the word “Shalom,” I was sitting in my sophomore year bible class at my Christian high school. It was taught to me as a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. Phillipians 1:7 says “the Shalom of God surpasses all understanding and will guard your hearts and your minds.” I think that Shalom is one of those things that you have to feel to best understand. It cannot be defined in a dictionary, as it surpasses all understanding we as humans are capable of.
Shalom is a word reserved for moments of true perfection, or as close as one can get. Shauna Niequist, in her book Cold Tangerines, refers to Shalom as “a way of living, a way of harmonizing and hitting a balance point, a converging of a thousand balance points and voices, layering together, twisting together, and there are moments when it all clicks into place for just a split second.” I personally have been blessed enough to experience tiny glimpses of this perfection that comes “when the plates stop spinning and the masks fall off and the apologies come from the deepest places and so do the prayers.” Shalom to me is when there is literally not a single place that I would rather be. It occurs when I am surrounded by friends with the sun shining in my face and laughs bubbling in my throat. I feel it when I’m alone with a cup of coffee reading my favorite book. Or right before I fall asleep in my own bed, with my window open and my mother who loves me right down the hall. You know it?
Here’s the thing about Shalom, though. As soon as I feel it, it doesn’t last long before the world comes crashing back down on me; I remember that I have responsibilities and stress and I have made heart-wrenching mistakes and my heart has been broken and people have let me down. But when its there, it’s there and it’s perfect and it’s amazing, and all those miserable moments of struggle and sin are worth it. I imagine that Heaven is all Shalom, complete perfection and closeness with God. It’s something that I want to constantly strive for and live for, and I pray that everyone gets a taste of this sweet freedom.
