So, as I was trying to take an picture of our Advent wreath for this post, I found myself moving around to make the shot “perfect”. At first, I was taking the shot from the other side where there is less mess. However, I thought you might like to see my boys’ chairs and the schmutz all over the table. This is more true to my life anyway. We generally read the Advent lesson while food is flying. (My boys like to eat!) This week, we lit the “Love” Candle. The first week was “Hope”. The second week was “Peace”. The third week was “Joy.
One of the hardest things for me to maintain this time of year (anytime really) is peace. We are so busy! Even when we consciously try to limit our extracurricular activities, we still seem to be strapped for time. The hustle and bustle, the traffic, the obligations, the stress, the loneliness all suck the peace right out of me.
What of Jesus’ birth was peaceful in the worldly sense? After all the drama of the birth announcement and marriage, Mary and Joseph have to travel miles from home. Jesus is born in a cave. No snugly warm blanket. No soft cushy bed. Nowhere for Mary to really rest and bask in the glow of being a new mom. I would say no fanfare, but the shepherds saw fanfare!
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14
And on earth peace. And on earth peace. And on earth PEACE!
The old song says, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” It began with JESUS!
How do we get it?
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:22-27
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
How do we maintain it?
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:11-14
True peace comes from believing in Jesus and obeying His commandments (love God and our neighbor). Because, if we truly believe and love Him, we will WANT to please Him. We maintain that peace by staying connected to Him. Through study. Through prayer. Through service. We have to pursue peace. It will not necessarily come naturally. Our flesh does not want peace. Our flesh wants to party like it’s 1999.
We can have peace when the kids are screaming, the house is a wreck, life is not going as we planned, we are dying, a family member/friend is dying, someone hates us, we have no money, we lose our job, we don’t know the next step to take, or [insert situation here].
I leave you with this:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Christmas Bells
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!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Written during the American Civil war, the above poem can be found in:
- Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Complete Poetical Works of Longfellow.Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1893.
- Stevenson, Burton Egbert , ed. The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1915
Merry Christmas!
Love, Lori
themoodyblogger 