Peace on earth?

We wish it in greetings of prose and song this time each year but is it really possible? Is it just a relic of holiday grammar? An empty, outdated hope from a simpler time long ago that we refuse to abandon?

Giving up on peace would be a resignation of hope and I don’t think most of us are ready for that just yet.

But nowadays, fewer and fewer believe peace on earth is genuinely attainable.

It sounds warm, lovely and hopeful like many season’s greeting cards but is just as quickly drowned out by the next hostile report of murder, act of war or mayhem across the globe or in our own backyard.

I, for one, believe peace on earth is still possible because peace on earth isn’t a state but a movement.

What if we abandoned the impossible thought of global peace and viewed peace on earth emergent as a series of individual efforts which, consistent and connected, create the cause of peace and move it forward, if but an inch with each deliberate effort?

By definition, movements move. They gain momentum. They don’t and can’t stop. Those who pay peace forward do so in small, imaginable, deliberate ways. And not because of a season or words on a greeting card.

Peace is the easing of pain, the healing of wounds, the comfort of the afflicted.

Peace is a warm coat, a hot meal, a ride to the store or a touch to the untouchable?

We can do peace. Each of us can be peace to another.

Peace on earth is a sacrifice.

It takes effort.

Selfish people will never have peace because they never give it, leaving it up to the rest of us.

At this time of year, there is more selfish indulgence than at any other. But conversely, it’s the time when peace-full people make the extra effort.

Stories of individual and family gives, rejection of conformity to the commercialization of the holidays and ensembles of strangers uniting for the purpose of sharing with the impoverished abound.

Peace on earth is deliberate.

Peace on earth won’t ride in on the political coattails of a determined leader. It doesn’t take residence in a world of good intentions. It can’t be legislated or mandated and never arrives in waves of mass conviction.

Peace on earth comes deliberately, in one act of goodwill at a time and it’s never bound to a time of year.

Peace on earth is an all-year commitment.

Truth is, when the holiday season ends, so does much of the giving. Corporate giving is least expected to continue when the PR opportunities are fewer and less available and drops in individual giving follow.

People justify their inaction by complaints of being tapped out.

But authentic movements of peace don’t slow or stop simply because the season is over. It never lacks resources. It doesn’t take a break. It continues to move. It has to.

Very soon, the celebration will be over.

But the cause of peace will go on, feeding the hungry, warming the cold and touching the neglected, with or without you, albeit with less momentum, but never lacking intention and purpose.

Peace is a movement.

At this time and at all times, our wish must be: Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Don’t give up the hope. We can get there. Vow with me to do your part to keep the momentum of peace going all year long.

Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭23‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭

Among the many laws for and promises to his people found in Exodus is this simple gem.

God promised health and a full life on condition of faithful worship.

The foundational and fundamental ingredient for vital living is always a robust faithfulness.

It’s clear that God’s perfect plan for his people is to provide not just for their needs but also for their thriving and flourishing.

Healthy living begins with worship but ends with a dispassionate abandonment of our creator as Jehovah Jireh, our provider. God will not stand for neglect nor neglect of the vessel he has provided each of us.

A whole person and a full life is his plan. It’s up to us to get on board.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The only time most of us take an actual day of rest is when we come down sick. And it’s not a day we’ve prepared for. To the contrary, it usually arrives as a thief of our plans and preparations.

Besides, there’s always work to be done no matter what day it is.

God wants us to value down time for its regenerative and reflective properties, both of which are essential to optimal performance the other six days.

But we regard the day of rest as a good suggestion rather than the commandment that it is, on par with not murdering, coveting or sleeping with your next door neighbor’s wife.

Those commandments are a lot easier to keep than taking 14.29% of your week—less than a standard tip you leave as thanks to a stranger— to rejuvenate and reflect.

Preparing the other 85% of the week for a day free of obligations preserves you for performing your best at your actual obligations.

Chill. Keep it holy.