“And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
In many ways, the complete joy of the Christmas season
doesn’t exist. For hatred and violence in our world continually mar the image
of a season of Peace. This year alone, twenty families are having a Christmas
without their young children; taken away too soon. Some didn’t even believe
that this Christmas would even be reached; expecting a devastating worldwide apocalypse.
Just this Christmas Eve, a gunman set his house ablaze and, from a sniper
position, opened fire on firefighters, killing two and injuring two others;
then turned the gun upon himself.
The Unexpected Christmas. Failed apocalypse or not,
senseless violence remains rampant. Humanity in its shattered state, ever
begetting pain with more pain. The world didn’t end on the 21st, but
our slow apocalypse continues.
And while not everyone succumbs to this kind of devastating
violence, the potential for it exists in every one of us. Given the exact right
conditions, every person has that same capacity for violence, for deceit, for
fear, for anger, for despair, for greed. None are innocent. I feel that this is our human condition; perhaps
even our inherited sin; not what we do, but what we could do.
“Then ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day.”
But, yet, this day celebrates the One who can redeem all the
pain, all the violence, all the suffering; not in part, but in whole. While our
walk upon the earth will be wrought with struggle, it will not remain so, for
night will revolve to day when we come to know Him. For the day the Lord came
to ransom us, He made a promise, a new covenant, and brought flesh to our dry
bones that we may know Him. From that day, born and laid into a cradle of wood,
Jesus the carpenter began the journey that would result in his finest work; the
cross.
For all the pain, the senseless agony of this life and the
despair; we have a promise that it will not last forever. A glorious day will
come, and our Lord’s might be shown. Until then though, we rest on His promise,
His hope, His love, and His faith. And we rest on each other. For every one of
us is another weary traveler on this path. We do not bear our burdens alone.
For, it is through each other, and through the small joys
that can be found from day to day,
that we are able to meet the despair of this world with hope, meet the pain
with faith, meet the violence with peace, and meet the brokenness with faith.
“Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does He sleep.”
(Casting
Crowns “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”)
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