Dotsie, I understand fairly well what you mean about the peaceful state one gains in prayerful contemplation and the distractions from it caused by temporal responsibilities. I, too, struggle with the challenge to maintain the unfathomable peace I obtain from retreats, daily prayers and especially when sitting in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. How I envy those whose vocation in life is spent in monastic prayer. And, as one does not live a cloistered life, it is a daunting challenge when one yearns to find a sanctuary within oneself, in the midst of din, where one can be in peaceful communion with Jesus. But, as He is present everywhere, we can keep in touch with the peace obtained in the silence of prayerful contemplation through the movement of life which we personally experience from within in our thoughts, plans, feelings, aspirations and instincts we face daily. As we wish others peace, we continue to retain it.