We are sometimes at a disadvantage regarding the Christmas story. We have heard the story for so long, year after year, and because of our familiarity, we miss having an awareness of the impact of the angel's proclamation to the shepherds in the field:
"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"
How important is the peace promised by the prophets and announced by the angels?
Is there any greater need in our world? Perhaps I stated the question too broadly. Let me reframe the question and make it more personal. Is there any greater need in your life today than discovering a sense of peace?
My interest in music is fairly eclectic. I have absolutely no musical ability, but I love music. I can't say that my repertoire of Christmas music is that broad. For most of my life, my list of favorite Christmas songs has been pretty short.
But on that short list is Vince Gill's song: Let There Be Peace On Earth:
"Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let There Be Peace on Earth
The peace that was meant to be
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With ev'ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
The one characteristic noticeably absent in many of our lives is the gift of peace. As a culture, have we ever really known it? I have never gone off to war, but I'm not a stranger to the carnage and unrest it provides.
I am old enough to remember the Korean Conflict and the sense of peril associated to the nation's involvement. According to Department of Defense statistics, a total of 36,576 Americans died while serving in the Korean War.
Interesting, several years ago, a younger friend asked me: "Did you serve in the Korean Conflict?" I thought I heard him in correctly. I responded: "Did I what?" He replied: Did you serve in the Korean Conflict? He had to be kidding! I was at most in the third grade at the time.
As baby boomers we lived with the perpetual fear of attack by the Russians. We regularly had bomb drills at school where we were marched into the hallway and sat in the floor with our knees between our heads. It was crazy.
It seemed like only the next day we found ourselves involved in the travesty of Vietnam. I call it a travesty because the men in combat were severely restricted from doing their job. They had no alternative but to be there, but most of the shots were called by the folks in Washington who used our military like pawns on a chessboard.
This Christmas marks the 50th anniversary of the Christmas Bombing Raids over North Vietnam. I remember that mostly because my twin brother's plane never returned from a nighttime air raid reportedly intended to knock out a bridge.
I could go on and on, but it would be adding insult to injury. We don't live in a culture that promotes peace. That is true nationally and sadly, too often, it is true in our personal lives.
I once worked in a Foster Care partnership with Christine DeLay, wife of former Congressman Tom DeLay. I once ended an email to her with the word peace as the ending salutation. Pardon the pun, but she shot back an immediate response.
She said it was a strange way to end correspondence, but that the pursuit of peace was certainly worth fighting for.
"Family Conflict" is a term that accurately describes the lack of familial connections throughout our land. It defies belief, but how many families function as families? Dysfunctional seems to be the norm.
It is unbelievable. We live in a land where one of the most dangerous places a person can be is in the family home. Child abuse and domestic assault is at an all-time high. Home isn't a peaceful place for many.
We live in a decade of affluence and we have created for ourselves a nightmarish existence.We have crafted for ourselves a world filled with anxiety and unrest.
Today's climate is defined by the Opioid crisis sweeping across our land. Literally, it is everywhere. Our troubled reality couldn't be farther from what God intended or the announcement of the angels proclaiming peace on earth good will toward men.
Once a famous artists' association announced a contest. All pictures entered in the contest were to depict "peace". The winner would be awarded a large sum of money.
Paintings of all sorts were submitted. There were serene pastoral scenes; placid lakes; an intimate cottage scene, cheerful and snug before a cozy fireplace; unmarked fields of freshly fallen snow; a painting of a tranquil, windless dawn.
But the painting selected by the judges for the first prize was very different from all the others. It depicted the famous and frightening Niagara Falls. Tons of water rushed over sharp rocks, spewing foam high into the cloudy and stormy skies.
The roar of the deadly waters as they crashed hundreds of feet to the crags below was almost audible. Yet, off to one side was depicted a small bird, calmly and serenely sitting in a tiny nest build on a slender branch overhanging the falls below. The painting was entitled very simply: "Peace".
My all time favorite Christmas carol is "I heard the bells on Christmas day." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a man who knew heartache and disappointment wrote it. Yet from the midst of life's trials, the church bells on Christmas day reminded him of a hope that was his.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
I know from my own experience the proven dependability of God's love. It has manifest itself in providing a sense of peace related to my brother's loss. It is part of the gift that comes with Christmas.
Peace,
Don
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