Peace

Advent is the time in the church year where we prepare ourselves to see God present in the world.  The traditional themes of Advent are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, so that is what I am writing about this season.

Peace is the concept we focus on for the second week of advent.   Often I picture peace as found on a nice Caribbean beach.  The gentle waves and the warm sun evoke calm.  There is a happiness here, a contentment that has always been part of what I have thought of when I thought about peace.  It is the absence of conflict and stress.

Our language however shows another side of peace, such as when we say things like she was at peace with her decision.  This to me captures a different emotion than that sunny beach scene.  It connotes some wrestling with the issue.  In this instance work was done in order to find peace.  I know that an acceptance of things as they are brings peace.  I’ve found this in my own struggles with my weight.  While I continue to strive to be healthier I’ve made peace with my current size.  The freedom I have found in not beating myself up all the time is part of being healthier mentally and it surely is a form of peace.

Finally the latest space where I am growing in my understanding of peace is one that often feels the opposite of the contented peace of the beach and is a furthering of that accepting peace I’m beginning to live out. Last year at this time I had just been part of one of the most holy and peaceful moments of my life, the death of my father.  This was an extraordinarily sad moment for my family.  My vital, healthy father was not someone we were ready to let go.  And yet we did.  We embraced the process and while it was hard and sad it was also so, so peaceful.  Because we were together, because we were honest about what was happening, because we engaged death my dad was able to pass away peacefully.  And I was changed by the expereince.

So peace for me at advent is all of this.  It’s the time of rest in space free from strife, it’s the glorious acceptance of what is while not yielding hope in a new future, and it’s trust in times of sorrow.  I’m sure that as I age and grow spiritually my notion of what peace is will continue to expand.

I hope this advent you find peace in new ways and point it out as God arriving here and now in our world.

-Eilidh