“Peace on earth, good will toward mankind.” The Angels

 I leave with you, my peace I give to you . . . not as the world gives.”  Jesus

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.” From “Being Peace” by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace on Earth.  We hear it all the time at Christmas.  But we don’t see it. This message is everywhere . . . and nowhere.  Since the birth of The Prince of Peace on what I imagine to be that first peace-filled Christmas the world has been in constant conflict, willing to make war, not peace. Evidence abounds.

The pagan Roman Empire was built on a campaign of brutality against their enemies.  The Pax Romana that existed at the time of the birth of Jesus was the result of armed conflict and conquest.  Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, converted as the result of winning the battle of Milvian Bridge, which he attributed to a vision in which he was to fight under the sign of the cross.  No little irony there.  Other rulers followed in his footsteps, using the cross as the sign to accompany Crusaders in their attempt to conquer the Holy Land.  The United States as we know it was formed from Revolution and forged in a great Civil War.  A little over a hundred years ago the “War to end all Wars” was fought resulting in the death of millions, but NOT bringing an end to all wars.  And on and on and on it goes . . .  So where in the world can I find peace?

Before answering that question ask the question “What is the source of war?”  The answer is not rulers, politicians, police or anything found in others, or “out there”.  The root source of conflict is found within.  Within humanity.  Within the heart of humanity which is darkened by unmet desires and dashed dreams and distorted ideas of what one deserves which begins to be formed into resentment, which becomes anger and then eventually hardens the heart so that all it harbors is hatred.  Don’t believe me?  Read James 3:13-4:2.  And in fact Jesus said that “It is not what goes into someone that defiles him, but what comes out of him.”  War is the result of hatred which is harbored in the hardened hearts of humanity. 

Knowing this provides the answer for the initial question.  We can’t find peace in the world, but only inside of ourselves.  It is our hearts that serve as the source of peace.  But how?  How can we have peace in our hearts?  Dear friend, though difficult to implement and harder to believe, the answer is simple:  Love.

There are many messages of Christmas:  Peace, Joy, Hope, etc.  But the root of the message, and what gives meaning to this season as well as to our lives, is Love.  God is love.  The love of God took on human form in the person of Jesus.  The love of Jesus overcame the violence of the cross.  Love won!  Love wins!  God loves the world.  God loves you!  God loves me!  Take a moment and say that out loud:  “God Loves Me!”  Ahh, that feels good.  Do you believe it?  Do you believe that God loves you just for you?  NO conditions on how you should act, be or behave?  No consideration of anything you’ve said, done or thought in the past?  God loves you not in spite of all that has been wrong in your life, but because of it?  It’s true!  What a gift!

And there’s another gift that goes along with this one, that might be even greater to grasp:  Because God loves me, I can love me too!  Say this: “I love ME”.  Ahh, that feels good.  Do you believe it?  It’s true!  I love me!  I love me just for me!  I love me for who I AM!  I love me not in spite of all my flaws and brokenness, but because of them! 

God loves me.  I love me.  And therefore I can love others.  That is the gift we give to others at Christmas, and always.  Love.  Just that simple. And beautiful!  Like you!