Tuesday 15 December 2015

Hope is on the way 12: Where is peace this christmas?




Everyone who was there yesterday was also there today.

Elizabeth, heard a new song called the peace carol. “Let us sing the peace carol.”

The peace carol

“The garment of life, be it tattered and torn,
the cloak of the soldier is withered and worn.
But what child is this that was poverty-born, the peace of Christmas Day.

The branch that bears the bright holly, the dove that rests in yonder tree.
The light that shines for all to see, the peace of Christmas Day.

The hope that has slumbered for 2000 years,
the promise that silenced 1000 fears.
A faith that can hobble an ocean of tears, the peace of Christmas Day.

The branch that bears the bright holly, the dove that rests in yonder tree.
The light that shines for all to see, the peace of Christmas Day.

Add all the grief that people may bear, total the strife, the troubles and care.
Put them in columns and leave them right there, the peace of Christmas Day.

The branch that bears the bright holly, the dove that rests in yonder tree.
The light that shines for all to see, the peace of Christmas Day.
The branch that bears the bright holly, the dove that rests in yonder tree.
The light that shines for all to see, the peace of Christmas Day.

Lydia randomly said, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! (Luke 2:14)”

Elizabeth said “At the start of December, I was in my usual Christmas Bubble - Cinnamon in the air, Carols up loud... wonder and whimsy all around...
Then a few things happened in my own country of Australia, around the world that woke me up... shook me out of my bubble of niceness, and made me aware of the state of our world...”

Everyone said, “Peace?”

Elizabeth carried on saying, “People are hurting each other everywhere I turn. Whether it’s a gunman in Sydney Australia holding 17 people hostage, or a school in Pakistan where innocent children are slaughtered, or the house down the street where a woman is beaten, or the silent crimes that we hear nothing about — people whose situations don’t make it to the news, they don’t get streamed on the internet, suffering alone and in silence.

I think about the family that just lost a loved one, or the child whose parents are cruel, or those who are financially crushed at Christmas... I don’t want to write fluffy words about peace while many are experiencing the opposite.

By the time Jesus was born, the Jewish people had been to hell and back several times over since the beginning. They knew what it was to be captive, oppressed... brutalised. They were waiting for a saviour who would bring peace... Isaiah prophesied “He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...” Can we blame them for seeking circumstantial peace? We do it all the time... “If only my circumstances changed... if my bank account was full, if I got the right job... if I hadn’t suffered this or that, than I would have...”

Everyone said “Peace?”

Elizabeth carried on saing, “A good friend of mine, Katie says, “Peace is found in my soul, not by my eyes...” Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God...” Collosians 3:15 says, “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts...” Phillipians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus...”

Pete carried on what Elizabeth was saying, “Peace doesn’t begin in the physical... it’s not based in the circumstantial. It’s transcendent... a stillness of heart, a knowing... A gift from God. It’s the fragrance of His presence, an awareness of His heart for humanity.”

Elizabeth carried on where she was, “In the midst of turmoil, bad economies, illness, tragedy, heartache, the uncomfortable, the unfair, the downright evil that happens all around me, Jesus brings peace to my heart. When I still my raging mind and close my eyes, not to become unaware of the world, but to focus on Christ, he settles the churning within. I can open my eyes again and gaze upon the same world facing the same struggles with new hope...”

Everyone said “So what do we do with this peace that we have within us? What good is it in the face of pain?”

Elizabeth said, “Rather than working to a place of peace, we work from a place of peace, injecting it under the skin of humanity and watching its subversive effect on the lives around us from the inside out... Collosians 3:13-14 says "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you... clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Peace allows us to live from a place of love...

It strengthens us to be people who help. Not just consumers or observers, but people who get down amongst the muck of the world and help pick up the pieces, shoulder each other's heartaches, bring wisdom and friendship, defy evilness and strengthen the vulnerable. Peace engages compassion and compassion calls for action.”

Tia said, “Frederick Buechner writes, "Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin.”

Elizabeth said, “It’s the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."

Elizabeth ended the book club with, “As we head into this season where the phrase “Peace on earth, goodwill towards men” gets passed around like Christmas candy, still yourself and allow Jesus to bring his transcendent peace to your life, permeating you with healing and wholeness... Look out into the world near and far, not with hopeless eyes or defeat, but with peace, compassion..., and then get amongst it and spread that stuff around like snowflakes and confetti...

Be the peace”

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