“His name shall be called Prince of Peace”
Isaiah 9:6
Christmas reminds us that Jesus, like many other things, is a symbol of peace. He is a model of the many possibilities and of the harmony we are capable of bringing to our world. We are here to weave ourselves into and be an integral part of our community organizations, schools, governments and to be the beacons of peace. The words we sing each week at Spiritual Life Center, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,” from Jill Jackson’s Peace Song contain the essence of how to attain peace in our communities by exemplifying the model Jesus provided.
As we look at our external world and see conflict, it is easy to conclude that peace on earth is an airy-fairy pipedream beyond human attainment. Yet, upon closer examination, we discover that the lack of peace that we observe is merely a reflection of our collective beliefs. That is to say, “as within, so without.” What manifests in the world is the byproduct of our consciousness. If we are to have the peace our souls long for, we must each look in the mirror and begin with ourselves. This requires that our thoughts, words and actions be in alignment with the qualities of peace we are looking for.
It begins with self-examination. We must ask moment by moment, “Am I in anyway harboring thoughts of hate or resentment or belief in separation?” If so, we must recognize that we are contributing to the energy that is blocking the flow of peace in the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that peace will not come on the wheels of inevitability. Rather, peace must be a constant choice made in each moment, individually and collectively. It must be intentional.
It comes down to what we practice. Regardless of what our philosophical theology, our real theology is what we do. So, we ask, what do we do when faced with revenge? Or hate? Or the need to forgive? And we must beware of the lofty belief that one daywe’ll forgive, or that one day we'll love; one day in the future we'll practice what we say we believe. This is a disempowering delay tactic of the non-spiritualized ego that leaves us inundated with the prevailing thoughts of the day and adds to the violent consciousness of the group soul. For there to be peace, we must be peacemakers now.
A peacemaker does not see a world of separation where there is an us versus them mentality. A peacemaker no longer sees from the limited perception of my family or my tribe or my country, right or wrong. Rather, a peacemaker realizes that there is only one life, the life of God, from which all of humanity emanates.
Our world is hungering for peacemakers. It’s longing for us to become lights and instruments of the divine on earth so we may carry the consciousness of peace everywhere we go. When we embody the peace we are destined to be, we will infuse any environment we walk into with peace because the essence of who we are is proclaiming “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Let’s celebrate the Christmas season with this kind of awareness.
Peace and Blessings,
James