A Singular Anticipation of Christmas - Day 22

Cause I believe in Christmas
And I'm not the only one
Who keeps on wishing
For that peace on earth to come
So hold me close and let me know
That your love will see me through
Cause I believe in Christmas
I believe in you
 Peace on earth.  

I think if you boiled down the life mission statements of every person on earth, the closest we would come to a common thread would be the pursuit of peace on earth.  Inside each of us is a desire for harmony. Some recognize it, others may not.  But at the end of the day I don't think any of us value anything more than looking at the day gone by without regrets, and to the new day to greet us without anxieties.
 
I've realized this week how differently we all look at acquiring individual peace.  In the vocal debate about guns that has emerged from the Sandy Hook shootings, there are many who believe guns are necessary for peace in our lives, and others who believe as strongly that they preclude peace.  I have no interest in debating that today, only to point out that I believe both sides, in their hearts, are looking for the same thing.

It is a good example of why simply relying on individual cooperation and agreement toward peace is never going to work. We have too many different ideas on how to achieve that.  And in my eyes, at least recently, the more we work out our individual peace, the more it's often at the expense of others. Our measures for peace frequently end in chaos, if not violence.

None of this is surprising to me.  We all have different ideas of what peace means, so we understandably don't go about achieving it the same way.  That also makes achieving peace on earth unrealistic.  Unrealistic, that is, without Christmas.

With Christmas came the Prince of Peace - Christ.  With him came a common definition of peace: that we love God, and love our neighbor.   It is His message that we should be far more interested in acquiring peace for our neighbors, than for ourselves.  He has asked us to rely solely on him for our own peace while we work tirelessly to achieve peace for others.

The arrival of Christmas also came with the acknowledgement that we alone are not capable of achieving peace on earth.  It's sometimes hard to grasp that we are commissioned and often driven to accomplish what we alone are not capapble of.  But by believing in Christmas, we have somewhere to turn when our pursuits for peace seem overwhelming.  We have the common path to achieve our mission of peace on earth.