(The following is a message, challenge, opportunity that I issued in my article for the church’s December newsletter.)
‘Peace! Good will toward men.’ I always feel that it is somewhat sad that this message is relegated to a specific time period. Perhaps, even worse is that we need reminding. Overreacting? Could be but how often do we think about peace and good will? Just as important – how do we define these words… operationally? Would you recognize it if you saw it?
Peace is a state of mind, a mindset; but it is also a choice action. We choose to act and respond this way. Life is not fair and if we are operating with the belief that life should be ‘fair’, then we need to reassess because ‘fair’ is not in the definition of ‘life’. I would even add that ‘fair’ is a moving target and never defined. Trouble is that though we harbor a hope (?), desire (?), need (?) that peace and good will emerge, we also don’t believe it will.
But… what if we started something new? What if we launch our own attempt to act, speak. and be a carrier of ‘peace’ and ‘good will’? If we do, we can’t expect others to always understand, nor can we expect them to jump onto this bandwagon. We can, however, expect to be mocked, even if it’s behind our back but does this dissuade or inspire you? Will you go beyond the ‘expected’ to be that voice of peace?
We are heading into the Christmas season… what if we all acted with peace and good will – even if we don’t receive any in return. In doing this will we be sharing Jesus in our world, and wouldn’t that be a wonderful gift to give the Lord? Think about it. Perhaps… if we really believe we do make a difference in our world, we can expand this concept into a lifestyle? Perhaps we can be a voice of peace and good will.
