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Advent 2

What do you think of when you see the word “PEACE” at this time of year? Perhaps you think about your own peace of mind, or keeping the peace with family and friends. Perhaps you think about a quiet midwinter evening with big snowflakes coming down so slowly they look like they are suspended in the air.

The peace we are being called to consider during the Advent season is so much bigger than those rare, but welcome moments of tranquility. This Sunday we will be thinking about the idea of a whole “peaceable kingdom” - and that’s not just the humans getting along. Just imagine all of creation in harmony.

In our conversations this week (On Tap, Coffee Zoom, Lunch Study) we considered a variety of quotes about peace from all over the world. We talked about justice, equity, and space for human flourishing. We talked about peace as a process that is never finished. Maybe peace is something we move in and out of as our society shifts and changes. Peace can be something we work toward but never complete.

Repeatedly, we hear in the scriptures about how peace must come through justice. As I think about what that might look like, I imagine a diverse society in which everyone’s gifts contribute to the greater good of the community – no one left out, and everyone respected. That sounds rather utopian when we think of all that stands in the way of that in our present situations. On the other hand, we see just enough glimpses of peaceable kingdom experiences to keep us dreaming.

The prophet Isaiah certainly had a dream: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”

Peace and joy
Nancy