Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss – The Wexford Carol (Video) – Bing video
“Within a manger he was laid
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of life
Who came on earth to end all strife.”
There’s that peace message again. He came to earth to end all strife. Peace is one of our deepest cravings, yet so hard to find. Strife is everywhere.
I keep thinking of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose core message was peace. Yet he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler. How can a message of peace involve such deadly confrontation?
But the question can be turned around. How can a message of peace NOT confront evil? And further, how can we be people of peace without confronting evil?
We can’t.
Bonhoeffer~
“We have learned a bit too late in the day that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.”
“Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power…and with its plea for the weak.”
“Which of us has really admitted that God’s goodness can also lead us into conflict?”
“There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared.”
Jesus~
Peace isn’t the absence of strife. That reality hasn’t come yet, but the good news is that we can find it in the midst of strife.
It’s a gift.