THE PEACE OF CHRIST

[Jesus said to His disciples,] “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  (John 14:27 ESV)

If we are to be truly peacemakers, I think we must move beyond the notion of peace as the absence of conflict… Peace has to do with the fullness of things, with lion and lamb lying down together, not a world without lions.  If we are to have hearts capable of the peace of Christ, which does indeed pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7), we must have hearts capable of embracing the joy and the sorrow, the sacredness and the sin of the world…

The infant in the manger at Bethlehem comes with a message of peace, an announcement that all sad divisions, all the irreconcilable pieces of our public and private lives will be brought together in the celebration of "shalom" -- God's blessing, God's peace.  This will not, I think, occur when conflict has ceased.  For creative conflict is a necessary component of growth.  Rather, peace will reign when our forgiveness of self and others is wide and deep enough to create new possibilities and, without the use of violence, to transform our seeming impasses into new freedoms and joys. 

-- Wendy M. Wright in “The Vigil: Keeping Watch in the Season of Christ's Coming” (Nashville, Tenn.: Upper Room Books, 1992)   

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GOD'S HEALING SPIRIT

God desires our health, our wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.  This bold affirmation rests on the knowledge and experience of God in the life of Israel and the church.  God was revealed to Israel as "the LORD, who heals you" (Exodus 15:26), whose deepest and most consistent desire was to redeem, bless, and restore God's people…

In the here and now, we can count on this: that whenever we open ourselves to the activity of the Holy Spirit, some kind of healing takes place.  Indeed, God invites us to ask for what we need just as a child would ask a parent.  Even when our lives are filled with suffering or wracked with agonizing questions, we can cling to the faith that God is with us, somehow always offering new life and healing.

-- Tilda Norberg & Robert D. Webber in Stretch Out Your Hand


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THE SEVEN SEDUCTIVE VIRTUES

Consider the seven deadly sins, a moral checklist that emerged from centuries of reflection.  We live in a modern world so disordered from the original design that the entire notion of what is good for us has turned upside down.

In the modern United States, at least, the seven deadly sins might be renamed the seven seductive virtues:

Pride:  In music, sports, and business, we reserve our applause for winners, and those who flaunt it with an attitude tend to garner the most publicity.  We strut our medals at the Olympic Games, lavish rewards on winners, and read management books patterned after Machiavelli and Attila the Hun.

Envy: Our entire advertising industry is built on inciting envy of colleagues and neighbors, so that whatever new electronic marvel or body shape my neighbor has, I want too.

Anger:  We must get in touch with and express our anger, counselors tell us.  Encounter groups, television trash-talk shows, town meetings, and political debates offer sample opportunity to do so.

Greed:  The economic engine of our nation, and indeed the world, depends on a constant sense of discontent that motivates each consumer to desire ever more.

Sloth:  Find an island with a beach, retire early, relax, slow down, feel good -- it’s all part of the American dream.

Gluttony:  Every year the “big gulp” drinks and supersize french fries get bigger, as do the waistlines.  Currently 64 percent of Americans are overweight, with half of that percentage qualifying as obese.

Lust:  From Lycra-clad professional cheerleaders to dancing babes on MTV videos, lust is ubiquitous in modern America, the single most profitable industry on the Internet.

In the modern world, sin approaches in camouflage.  Too late do we realize that it blocks the path to shalom, to wholeness and health.  We miss the hidden dangers that prompted the ancients to regard these sins as deadly.  I have learned that these sins diminish me and bring disorder to my life.  Pride is a kind of addiction, a yearning for ego strokes that will never be satisfied.  Greed tempts me to move my focus from people to things.  Lust keeps me from connecting in the most meaningful way, diverting that desire in a direction that ultimately does not satisfy.  God wants to set me free; evil attempts to enslave. 

-- Philip Yancy in Rumors of Another World


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