George Bernanos' book The Diary of a Country Priest describes a situation where the main character, a self-effacing but unappreciated priest, helps a woman in her dying hours to surrender to God's mercy. Reflecting later on the event, the priest says: " 'Be at peace', I told her. And she knelt to receive this peace. May she keep it forever. It will be I that gave it to her. Oh, miracle, thus to be able to give what we ourselves do not possess, sweet miracle of our empty hands."
The word shalom = peace is so rich in meaning that it defies a one-word definition. In its Hebrew root it's associated with finishing, completing, perfection: a condition where nothing is lacking. Biblically, it can be summarized as being the condition where a person is at one with oneself, with God, and with others.
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