Stormy Peace

I think all mama really wanted was peace and quiet. Okay, maybe she also wanted my hair out of my face, and everyone who owned an iron to use it. 

She didn’t actually say, ‘be quiet’, but she had these noises. She startled easily. Her body would jump, eyes go wide and then a sound came through her pursed lips that sounded like she was a kettle letting off steam.

Sudden noises, rock music, my brother….all made her react in ways that made evident her need for peace and quiet.

I wonder if she ever realized the life she dedicated herself to was full of turmoil? It wasn’t necessarily noisy, but she worked with families whose lives were in disarray. She worked serving others in need of food, winter coats for their kids, a little extra help for Christmas, all signs of struggle to keep things together for their families. 

This is not peace.

A couple of years ago Hurricane Michael tore through the town of Panama City, FL. My brother in law watched from his front room window as his neighbor’s house directly across from theirs fell down as if it were made of matchsticks.

His house was severely damaged. They huddled together as parts of their roof came off and insulation in their attic fell into their living room. 

Even as they rebuilt and began to put life back together peace was hard to find.

The thing with 2020 is that peace has been ripped not just from my life. I cannot imagine anyone in our country who hasn’t felt the ripple effect of this pandemic and a contentious election year that has not only taken jobs and lives but it has taken our personal peace.

When there are more questions than answers, when our world shrinks to a bubble of ‘safety’, and we don’t know when, how hard or if the next wave will hit there is a scarcity of peace. 

During the hurricane that devastated our family, my aunt 87 year old aunt lay on a bed in the only room that didn’t leak and prayed. Later she told my cousin she didn’t feel fearful. Through this destructive storm she felt peace.

Peace isn’t the absence of struggle or noise. It’s not having everything go right in life. True peace is an inner contentment built on deep faith. A belief that all is well and all will be well in spite of or in the middle of this mess.

While true peace is found in Jesus it’s up to us to nurture it and hold on to it. This year has been hard. There are no guarantees it will get easier. Jesus himself reminds us that the peace he gives is not the world’s peace. And then he tells us, he has overcome the world! (John 16:33)

The call to celebrate his birth and life feels even greater this year. The celebration feels a bit more joyful as the anticipation builds.

There is hope.

There is peace.

All This Glory – David Crowder