Creation Care Mom

A stillness. Absence of conflict, violence, and/or anxiety. Lack of persecution. Quietness. Freedom from fear.

During the holiday season, peace can feel so far away. With crowded calendars, and important deadlines, the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can feel anything, but peaceful. There is a hustle and bustle to this season that doesn’t exist the rest of the year.

And yet,

This season is supposed to be a time to slow down, to let go, to find stillness, and quietness. It’s an opportunity to meditate on Christ coming into human existence as a small child. It is a time of celebration, but also of pondering.

In light of all the upheaval that this year has sent my way, I am feeling ever more yearning for peace. Shalom. It has felt like everything this year has been the anti-peace. Wars, death and persecution that won’t end. Climate disasters fueling displacement and anxiety. A topsy turvy angry and fearful election. So many national and international problems and issues that create fear and anxiety and drive out peace.

And of course, I also am living with an almost 2 year old. So you can guess how peaceful my house is? Yeah it’s not. If he’s awake, there’s noise, or something suspicious is going on.

So of all my years on earth, this year has been the hardest to find peace. How to release all of my anxieties, even just for a moment? In some way, many of the national and international issues of our time feed my own fears. How do I let them go?

It’s basically impossible.

But you know what? That’s ok. I wasn’t meant to do it alone.

Part of the season is the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. He came to bring peace, to be peace to the world. So on the many days, when it has felt like peace is so far away, I’ve have leaned into him. I have asked for him to fill me with his peace. To give me enough for today, just enough to get me to tomorrow.

I lay them in his hands. Knowing, that I’ll be having to release them again tomorrow. Knowing that living from and out of peace, enables my actions to be more productive as his agent in this world. Knowing that he is working in all and through all even when I don’t see it. Even when things look bleak.

So today, remember, go out in peace for he has already gone before you.