Advent week 4: Peace
As we wind down the last few hours of preparation, I wonder if you are experiencing peace. My own heart flashes spikes of anxiety as I remember one (or ten) things that still need to be accomplished today. There are people missing from our celebrations that leave a raw ache. Life has challenged us this year and my soul is a bit bruised as we settle in to this season.
- Maybe you too are sliding into Christmas eve feeling worn and weary
- Maybe your holiday table will be missing someone special this year
- Maybe the season isn’t living up the advertisers hype
- Maybe you are weary of the clamor of the wider world
- Maybe your waiting on a diagnosis or healing
- Maybe you are walking through a dark season
- Maybe the gifts under the tree aren’t quite what you wanted to give
- Maybe you just can’t quite get to jolly this year
It’s okay, maybe even better than okay to let Christmas unfold as it is this year. If we let ourselves out of the trap of “spectacular” and just ease toward good enough, we might find that peace is waiting for us.
So, today as we scurry around finishing what can be finished, and prepare what must be prepared. My prayer for you (and me) is that you might find peace with Christmas as it comes this year. That we might let it fall in the simple, ordinary, and mundane ways we live. I pray that you might offer yourself (and others) kindness and grace to simply be human. I pray that we might find rest and peace in the light of a small child born and laid in a humble manger.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!
Luke 2:14
