What does peace look like?
I am not sure I actually know what peace looks like. My favourite and least favourite definition or description of peace is “Peace is the word needed to describe the occasional and brief moments between war.” I can’t remember to whom the quotation is attributed or if it was actually said by any of the famous people attached to it. It sums up a rather bleak view of the human condition, and I find it hard to refute. But is it the last word on peace? No.
It is all too tempting to throw up my hands and say “Forget it!” Why might I want to say that? It’s because peace can be such a huge word. There is nothing I can do to stop the genocide in the Middle East or Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. But that is putting a lot of pressure on myself . . . or it’s a cop out.
The second Sunday of Advent is Peace Sunday, and it does not come with a command that I cannot fulfill, but maybe it still brings an intrinsic command. The Old Testament reading is the well-known passage about lions and lambs co-existing and all of that. I’m not called to make that happen, and if I take that level of peace-making as an acceptable minimum, I’m deluded. The part of our readings this Sunday that really hit me was in Romans. “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 15:5 NRSV) Live in harmony or live in peace. There is no possible way I can make a meaningful difference in geopolitics, but if I let that obvious inability keep me from living in peace with the people around me, with you, then it’s a cop out. Jesus says the peacemakers will be blessed; he doesn’t say they will always be successful. He doesn’t say we all need to be serious players on the world stage. You and I can be peacemakers right where we are . . . and we should.
The Sunday of Peace in Advent is not a call to the impossible but rather a call to the sometimes difficult but still possible life of peace with one another. This is a longer write-up than some, not sure why, but as always, please feel free to let me know what you think as you are able and inclined.
Advent blessings,
