Week Two of the Advent Season:  PEACE

“When peace shall over all the Earth, its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.”  ~Edward H. Sears, 1849

In the profound stillness of an early snowy morn, the words to the familiar carol, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” vividly flow through my thoughts.  Coffee in hand and seated on the back screened porch wrapped in a blanket, the mesmerizing flakes softly fall in mass abundance as dawn begins to break.  Trees, heavy-laden with piles of white fluff, gently sway as birds scamper to the four feeders filled to capacity.  Addie (grandma cat) lumbers to my side mewing her thoughts while keenly watching her morning “Bird TV.”  This is a blessed quiet time to meditate, ponder, pray, and prepare…a peaceful, peace-filled gift of grateful abundance in the midst of a blustery winter blast on this second Sunday in Advent.

More often than not, our lives and actions are anything but peaceful or PEACE-filled.  It becomes a solitary mission on some days to capture a precious snippet of the PEACE we crave as humans and spiritual beings.  Finding some small way to slow down, to quieten the mind, the mouth, and the body, to just be still and invite peace inside, is an act of personal grace.  Whether celebrating the coming of the Prince of Peace or simply hoping for the promise of Peace on Earth, we continue to wait and prepare as we light the second candle of Advent.  Please give yourself a moment to ponder this Christmas Question today:

In what ways do you seek PEACE in your daily life and how will you nurture this need in the coming year? 

May our continued search and fervent wish for PEACE bring extraordinary blessings of promise, grace, and forgiveness into our lives, dear friends and PEACEmakers…

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…”  John 14:27