There Is No Peace on Earth, I Said

             Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:13-14)

 

            The last week of Advent focuses on the peace promised by the angels. I don’t watch TV, but I’m enough aware of what’s going on in the world to know that there’s not much peace anywhere. We don’t even need to take it up to the level of international discord, or even internal political strife. The self-help industry is valued at $13.2 billion dollars per year. Consider the divorce rate, and the fact that people can’t even get along well enough to bother to get married in the first place. Then there are the alcohol and drug use rates, the number of murders, assaults, rapes, arsons, and other violent crimes; and the whole transgender movement (which is built on the notion that people are not at peace with their bodies. As the song says, “And in despair, I bowed my head. There is no peace on Earth, I said.” (Henry Longfellow.)

            Peace isn’t easy. I’ve said that peace is submitting to the river, flowing with its current, and that’s not difficult if the river is going where you want it to, when and how you want it to do so. But what happens when there are rapids? Or a waterfall? What do you do when the river seems to disappear into the sand? How do you live in peace with the river then? And what do you do if a pirate ship, or boats full of violent savages show up? What do you do when what’s around you isn’t peaceful?

            I suppose Peter’s experience walking on water is the best answer. We need to keep our focus on Jesus, and when we fail to do that, we need to cry to Him for  help. Jesus suggested that the solution was to build our houses upon the Rock, and when the storms come, they will stand.

            What comes to mind is the idea that the circumstances around us that threaten our peace are circumstances around us. Too often, we pick them up, hug them close and even make them part of our lives, then wonder how it is life got so out of control. Another way things spiral into chaos is not because of the things we pick up, hug and make part of our lives. It’s because of things that the things we pick up are connected to.

            To preserve peace in difficult circumstances, we may have to be ruthless in removing anything that gets in the way of that peace – and anything that comes between us and the one with whom we want to be at peace.