Courtesy: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Courtesy: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The past two days I have felt anything BUT peaceful and as my luck would have it, PEACE would be what God intended for me to reflect and write on. I struggled to find the words to express a meaningful sense of  Peace, of Love, of Strength – the three essences of life prayed for in the blessing for Day 12. They seemed intangible to me. Rather, I am consumed by feelings of unrest, of separation, and uncertainty. Perhaps it is due to my seemingly non-stop busyness of late. I have not been able to escape to the mountains to refresh my senses and get away from the noise of life. But I sense it is more than that.

The world seems more broken than normal (what a sad state of affairs!) – humanity is at odds with humanity. The glimmers of hope, charity, and love  I see extended to our fellow man is quickly dimmed by the realities of fear, greed, and superiority. Finding peace in this world? Not an easy notion unless you seek the aesthetic peace of mountain sanctuaries. And shoot, we can’t even agree as a state, country or world on how best to preserve the one tangible place of peace we have – our natural environment!   If ever there was a time, at least based on my meager existence and experience, that we needed a Messiah, it is now.

Despite the implicit traditions, merriment, and festive nature of the weeks leading up to the celebration day of Christmas on December 25, this holy season of Advent is a time of longing, of waiting, wondering, and preparing. He is allowing me time to prepare. Time to wrestle with with the intangible so that I might come to know again the depth of his peace – a peace “not of this world”, not even in the mountains.

Our greatest gift is coming. It is time to prepare our hearts for the mighty Prince of Peace.  In the meantime, I can be assured of His grace washing over me — in my less than peaceful times.

Let your light so shine, even the darkness… for Peace is coming.