The Peace That Was Meant to Be..

Here were are in the season of Advent.. singing carols, baking cookies, going to church and office parties. We are waiting for the "big day" to get here. I am no fan of consumerism, but I believe that giving heart felt gifts and getting together with neighbors is a very good thing. We need things to look forward. to I also have an affection for cheese balls, and Christmas is a great cheese ball holiday! Christmas is also supposed to be a great holiday for peace, where we proclaim "Let there be peace on earth!"

I have to make a confession.. and I mean a terrible dirty confession. I have not watched the news in months. I just cannot. It is not that I do not care or try to hide form the world's problems. Especially with all of the things happening in the USA right now. I just don't have the ability to take in people hurting people, it makes me sick (this is for real and not just a phrase). I have survived numerous abuses in my life that have left their mark on my soul. When I see people hurting each other, it makes me want to be sick to my stomach. I catch most of my news from Facebook headlines and from friends comments.

Lately I have been thinking about that phrase "Let there be peace on earth!".. I think part of the problem that we have is that we miss the other part.. "the peace that was meant to be".. I do not feel that the world was ever created to be a Utopian society where everyone has the same things and equal amounts of everything for all. There would be no motivation to work or better the world. I do feel though that there should be enough, for all.  It was written that  Jesus mentioned in the scriptures that there would always be poor among us. I believe that it is a "poor" of  many kinds he was referring to.  There is physical poverty,social poverty, poverty of understanding. The list goes on. If there were no challenges in life ministry would sort of be an empty thing, because no real growth would occur.

 The more I have struggled this season and looked to the scriptures for help.. the more the lyrics of the song "the peace that was meant to be!" continue to come forth. The peace of having enough. The peace of protest that does not alienate people. The peace of sharing food with those who have too little or none at all. The peace of giving people the proper tools to take care of themselves, and allow them the dignity that the wealthy of the world has. This is the peace that was meant to be. This peace allows people to be open in worship of their faith to live without fear. This peace allows people to express their love for each other without the confines of gay, straight, sexuality, or gender dividing people. This peace allows equal access to all who deserve work and want to work without the stigma of race, color, or gender stopping them.

The news has become so inflammatory in the USA that for my part of the peace that was meant to be, it means not giving news stations my business. It means that I will try to use multiple news venues to get my information before I act.  It means that I will not knee-jerk react when someone does or says something I do not like. The peace that was meant to be also means that I will take time to listen to people that I disagree with so that I can better understand them, rather that shut them out or try to shove them in a corner. The peace that was meant to be... I hope that my readers will take time to reflect on what that peace means to them and what it was meant to be in their lives. Maybe you will let go of a grudge. Maybe you will take time to speak to a neighbor. Maybe you will not cringe and scream inwardly the next time said neighbor uses the snow thrower at 2:00 am to "beat the clean up rush" in two inches of snow.  Maybe you will take time to meditate in traffic rather than cuss out the guy in front of you who cut around you to get to the intersection just in time for the red. Whatever it is let it be "the peace that was meant to be!"

Merry Christmas... JDC