Preparation and Peace

 

 

‘Peace is the love
Of a foe as a friend
Peace is the love you bring
To a child

 

Peace is a stream
From the heart of a man
Peace is a man, whose breath
Is the dawn

Peace is a dawn
On a day without end
Peace is the end, like death
Of the war’

 

For ‘Peace – An End’ by King Crimson, from the album ‘In the Wake of Poseidon’  (1970)

 

 

This will be the final post from me this Advent; the ‘Last Post’ if you like!

 

Usually, I try and carry on with my Advent reflections until Christmas Eve (sometimes I manage that, often I do not). But this year I am taking the sensible decision to end today.

 

For, you see, the day is coming ever nearer, the preparations are gearing up, and time is being squeezed.

 

This will be the first Christmas when all of our children, their spouses/partners, and our grandchildren will all be together. This is wonderful… exciting… so good…

 

…but they are coming here! Staying here! Living here for several days! And the southern contingent arrive tomorrow; son, daughter in law, and their twin toddlers.

 

There are rooms to be cleaned, beds to be made, food to be prepared. I will need to hit the shops tomorrow, and I will need to get some presents wrapped too. Oh, and I also have a couple of services to prepare for and conduct, not to mention a hospital appointment to attend.

 

So, there is a lot to be done and much preparation awaits.

 

Sometimes I find preparing great fun; I love the way that it builds that sense of anticipation and expectation. But, when time is short and there feels like too much to do, preparation can feel like a pressure, and it leads to anxiety… even panic.

 

There seems to me to be quite a lot of panic in the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus. It is often a bit understated, but it is there.

 

When the angel visits Mary, Mary is described as being ‘much perplexed’ (Luke 1: 29). Well, that seems to me like an understatement!

 

When Joseph learns of the pregnancy of his betrothed, he is told in a dream ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matthew 1: 20).

 

When the shepherds see an angel when they are watching their flocks, we are told that they were ‘terrified’ (Luke 2: 9).

 

In all of these cases, the words of the angels to the terrified, perplexed, anxious and panicked are the same ‘Do not be afraid’. And, today, to those of us who are becoming anxious and tense with all the preparations, perhaps that word is the same: ‘Do not be afraid’.

 

However, all of our (my!) pre-Christmas hassle and hurry, preparation and planning, work and worry is as nothing when compared to those who this Christmas time face the deeper anxiety and pain of bereavement, or poor health, or bad news, or insufficient money, or a cold house, or insufficient food. Or again those who this Christmas will be facing bombs, or starvation, or abuse, or exploitation and so on.

 

For me and for those of us who are simply a little stressed in the midst of our preparations, the assuring word of the angels may bring a degree of calm, and the message to the shepherds of ‘peace among those whom he favours’ (Luke 2: 14) is reassuring and comforting.

 

In the midst of our preparations, may we know that deep peace.

 

But for those facing some of the more extreme circumstances and challenges confronting so many at this time, these will seem like little more than empty words, unless and until God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

Until that coming day of peace, we who will welcome the coming of the Prince of Peace this Christmas, we who will worship at his manger, are called to pray and act and work for that peace for our world and among its peoples.

 

Instead of becoming preoccupied with our own petty worries, let us focus on being peacemakers and peace-bringers in the Name of Jesus and in the power of his Spirit.

 

And in all your preparations… and your preoccupations, and your panic, may peace be with you.