Waiting for peace

It was a year ago that the other half and I were stuck in a period of waiting. We were in the process of closing on our first house, this tiny abode in our little swath of the Midwest. The waiting period was anything but peaceful, as there were stresses, a portion of the roof that needed a repair, the thoughts of “anything could go wrong” and all of the other stresses that come with house buying.

This year, there still is some anxiety. I had a really stressful November that was not peaceful. I had to fly halfway across the country for a whirlwind weekend funeral. There are still losses I am dealing with and the havoc of the last month is playing games with my body at a time when I don’t need anything else to go wrong. These days find me hoping life will just settle back into some semblance of normality so that I can have a mental break.

But life is never “normal.” In our impatience to find that semblancy of normality, we settle for a new normal as circumstances change. We learn to wait to see if the other shoe will drop. We live lives that are anything but completely peaceful.

We have legitimate cause to wonder if there will ever be peace on earth, even as we fruitlessly seem to search for it every Advent season. We look around and see the absence of peace. We see the wars that continue in the Ukraine and in Gaza and other places around the world that aren’t even mentioned in Western media. We see the anti-LGTQBIA+ legislations that are being passed right and left, further marginalizing a group of people who just want to live with the peace “normal” people have. We see violence towards people of all walks of life, from CEOs being gunned down on New York streets to immigrants being separated from their children at border crossings while trying to seek asylum in a country known for sheltering the masses. We hear rhetoric that scares us and divides us even further, making the divides we see larger than life. It’s these absences of peace that terrify us and keep us awake at night, even as we can do little to stop them but helplessly stare down the tide of hate and virulent disorder that are left in its wake.

And still, we have to wait. In a society where fast food and entertainment on demand are common, we cannot make changes in an instant. We cannot seek peace overnight. But it can come. It can be found if one learns to wait, albeit anxiously and stressfully.

After all, the final symbol of Advent is a newborn babe in a manger, not some strong soldier ready to do battle. A helpless infant is the culmination of the waiting of this season, born in a lowly stable on a starry night. It was with him that peace on earth and goodwill to men became known as a lyric in an old song. And it is with us that there will be peace on earth, if we let it begin with us and wait for it to change us.

Throughout history, even in the darkest time, there have been stories that have shone of hope and peace, love and joy, light and magic that have emanated through the darkness. So wait and watch for those little glimmers, even when the stresses of life seem to get you down.

Stay magical, friends.

Write your own story.

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