Peace on Earth

Today is the second Sunday of Advent.  We lit the "Peace" candle at church this morning.  And altogether, today was a very peaceful one for me.

I was thinking about the idea of peace earlier this week-- I think about it a lot, actually.  I volunteer sometimes at Medical Teams International at the Real.Life. exhibit.  This is a multi-sensory walk-through exhibit that gives people a little experience of what life is like for people who are affected by disaster, conflict and poverty.  It's really well done, and my job when I'm volunteering is mostly just to kind of be there to answer questions, help move people along and make sure things are running smoothly.  This week I was there when a couple of high-school groups went through.  At one point, some high school girls were talking quietly to each other about the exhibit, and one of the girls asked the other:  "what kind of world do we live in?"

I thought that was a good question.  The last week has been filled with news of war and unrest, and I feel like everywhere I look I see some sort of heartache or another.  I find myself falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning praying for peace.  Peace in the war-torn Middle East.  Peace for the family of the British nurse who killed herself after accidently giving out too much information over the telephone.  Peace for my neighbors and friends and family here at home.  I long for it.

One thing that I was struck by during today's sermon was that one of the best questions to be asking is:  how can I bring peace to my world?  How is what I am doing/ who I am being contributing to peace?  I want to be at peace with others, which comes from being at peace with myself, which comes from being at peace with God.

And once again, Jesus is central to our ability to have peace-- to be peacemakers.  We can be at peace with God because of Jesus and what he has done.  And hence, we can be at peace with ourselves, and with others.  Everything is not well in this world.  But I can breath in and out in the face of breathtaking unrest, because I know that peace can be my reality, and I hope that because of Jesus, I can be an agent of peace in this world.

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:7