“Nothing can bring peace but the revelation of the individual to himself, and a recognition of his direct relationship to the Universe.” — Dr. Ernest Holmes I believe what every human being most desires is to experience true inner peace.

The journey to that place of peace is different for everyone. For some, inner peace is reached only after everything in their outer world is perfect—when there is a sense of security gained through having enough of whatever symbolizes power or control.

Many people tend to equate power with peace, believing the more power they have, the more at peace they will feel.

Be it an opulent lifestyle, the perfect job, the perfect mate or, for that matter, even the perfect physical body, the more we look to the world for whatever symbolizes power, the less peace we will actually have.

The outward journey leads into the five-sensory world and away from the true center of our being, where we experience the formless essence of our oneness with the source (aka God, the universe or what­ever name you choose to use).

When we set out on that quest, what we fail to realize is that any sense of peace that comes from the external world will always be temporal at best because impermanence is the law of the land—all “things” that have a beginning will, without a doubt, have an end—and then what happens to our sense of inner peace?

The great teacher Jesus illustrated this truth so eloquently in his parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). At times we have all been the prodigal son (or daughter), separating ourselves from the source of our good, which Jesus referred to as The Father. The quest of the prodigal son leads us on a pathway to the far country—a place in which we find ourselves when we are discontented with the life we have in this moment.

The journey to the far country is fueled by the belief that “there” is better than “here” and when we arrive “there,” the conditions will be more to our liking, which, in turn, will cause us to feel more at peace with ourselves.

The prodigal son discovered that the “there” (living in the far country) ultimately spawned a feeling of separation between him and his father (the source). He didn’t feel all that peaceful once he ran out of the coin of the realm.

Healing that sense of separation was easy: All he had to do was remember the source from which he came, rise, and return to where his father awaited him with open arms.

Lesson learned: Life is better at home than in the far country.

This is our story. The moment we remember our personal relationship and unity with the universal whole, it awaits us with open arms. We were born fully integrated with the whole—the source of all that makes life worth living—and it is our divine birthright.

Too often we develop spiritual amnesia and go in search of whatever we believe is missing, and our lives begin to splinter and slowly disintegrate. To remember the source from whence we came is the act of awakening and returning to our original state of wholeness.

This is the story of the prodigal son—a return to wholeness. He had to separate himself from his father and his home to appreciate what he had. Ultimately, living with the swine and eating their food helped him realize that there was a “peace” missing from his life. It was only then that he set out on the pathway home to reintegrate with the wholeness from which he came.

Perhaps it’s time we awaken and realize we may have been living in the “far country” too long. Have we forgotten the truth about ourselves and thus slipped into spiritual amnesia, not remembering the source from which we came? The good news is it’s never too late to rise and come home.

There is a part two to this story that involves the stay-at-home son who was oblivious to the good that was all around him, waiting for him to name it and claim it—but that’s a story for another day.

In the case of either son, suffice it to say, as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” declared, “There’s no place like home.”

Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author of the book “The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in Your Life.” Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.