Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
I was recently at a bookstore, staring at a gigantic pile of Christmas cards. I couldn’t stop looking at them, my eyes darting here and there, resting for a moment on a sparkling star or bright red reindeer nose. It made me think back to all of the cards my family would get at Christmas time, and how my mom would hang them up around the kitchen and dining room. One of the most popular sentiments was “peace on earth.” It’s still quite easy to find cards with “peace on earth” written on them, and there is something about that short phrase that does seem to cover any of the holidays we celebrate during this time of year.
Today’s readings are a bold reminder of the requirements of peace. Perhaps “peace on earth” persists in popular Christmastime imagination because we all feel the strong desire for peace, no matter the time or place in which we live. There are so many things that remind us that our world is fundamentally not at peace. We may even feel within ourselves a lack of peace, or see it in our children or parents. The prophet Isaiah’s bold vision is that when the Messiah comes, all that we see around us that is now violently at odds will become peaceful. But there is even more. It’s not just that creatures that once fought will no longer fight. Instead, they will actually actively commune with another. “The wolf,” says Isaiah, ”will become a guest of the lamb”! It’s not just that the wolves stop eating lambs; lambs actually seek out the company of wolves!
Today’s Gospel directs us to acknowledge that this peace—for which we long and that we wish onto all during this time of year—has begun in Jesus Christ. It is not a far off dream or a delusion, but it also might be hard to find. Those who are wise and powerful can and often do miss the surges of grace that run through a fallen world. And yet, the childlike can see it. To be childlike, I think, means being kind, giving others the benefit of the doubt, and being ever ready to be surprised by the beauty of creation and the work of the Creator. What true peace demands of us is not passive tolerance of all fellow humans but an active effort for communion with them. This truly does take a childlike faith, having enough love in our hearts to see Christ in others and a willingness to see grace all around us.
- Katherine Schmidt