December 23
I SEEK THE PRINCE OF PEACE
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is give, and the
government shall be upon his shoulder and his name will be called
‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’.” Isaiah 9:6
By this time, I wonder how many feel as if this Christmas season has been going on forever. I begin to think I can’t handle one more moment of excitement, anticipation, activity or emotion. Children at Santa’s knee, shrieking and shouting with excitement, ripping open their Santa gifts, eating too much candy and cake. Activities upon activities from the choir dinner to the Sunday School Concert. Music and pantomimes, plays and pageants, concerts and parties. Christmas is everywhere.
My senses are overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas to come. Carols echoing in the stores, almost drowned out by the sound of cash registers. The Christmas specials on T.V., each one a ‘can’t miss’ occasion. Pine boughs and gingerbread, candle wax and incense.
And so much to do! From making angel wings (again), for the Concert, to whipping up yet another batch of gingerbread men, to wrapping gift after gift in glitter and satin, to decorating the tree and decking the halls with boughs of holly. The To-Do list grows longer each day.
And now, it’s almost here, and my mind races with all the things that still remain to be done, the last party to attend, the last rehearsal for the choir before the Big Night.
Christmas is almost too much of a good thing. As my mother always said when we were over-excited, “It’ll end in tears.” And it often does.
Christmas is so much more than all the excitement and preparation and the Great Day itself. If it were, there would be no Christmas in parts of the world where the feast is a bowl of rice and the gifts are nonexistent. There would be no Christmas in the lonely room, where loved ones are far away or gone and the table is set for one. Christmas would never come to the hospital bedside, to the jail cell, or to the psychiatric ward.
Christmas is the promise for all of us that the Prince of Peace has come. As we sing in the carol, “Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, Risen with healing in His wings…”
Christmas is light and life for all.
MEDITATION: Glorious Prince of Peace, come to me now in this minute. Fill me with your peace. Let me abide in you and rest in your Love. Amen.
more quiet spaces 