For much of the world, there will be no peace on earth nor goodwill toward men this Christmas season. We see daily headlines of the bloodshed in this or that conflict, but taken in small snippets, that doesn’t really drive home to us just how pervasively war blankets the globe.
Besides the deadly belligerence of actual war and rebellion, seething hostility simmers just under the boiling point. The Military Industrial Complex wants war with Iran and North Kora. Will shooting erupt in the dispute over control of rich natural resources in the South China Sea? The refugee crisis in Europe and illegal immigration fuels internal fires of angry backlash that flare up in violence at times.
The Americas are largely free of actual wars, though not free of violence. Old grievances between countries in Central and South America still rub raw, and many Latin American countries deal with multiple rebel splinter groups that are mostly outlaw bands posing under ideological banners. Drug cartels infect and control many levels of government with corruption and intimidation from Mexico to Peru.
We don’t even have to go outside our own borders to find conflict. The election is over, but the bitter acid of division continues to eat through the deck of our ship of state, scarring peace and tranquility in our own communities and threatening to sink our revered way of life.
We are at each other’s throats with rancorous disputes over pretty much everything: the role of government, self-determination and the role of “authority.” religious freedom, illegal immigrants, civil rights, racism, abortion, “climate,” gun ownership, gun violence, wealth inequality, other people’s wars, and other people’s health to name only a few points of malignant contention.
The streets are still held hostage by violent gangs marauding under the guise of justice as they plunder neighborhoods in an open war with our city police departments. They are usurping rule of law with the strong arm of mob rule. Drug gangs rule whole neighborhoods and threaten whole states. Militarized police in many places often act no better.
Even the most basic social unit — the family — is under attack. Family-focused religious traditions like Christmas are being perverted into profit-driven secular observances. It’s part of the plan to rip apart the fabric of the family and turn people towards the secular governments for security and support in times of trouble and mayhem.
History has shown that powerful central governments are not designed to keep people safe. They are designed to quash dissenting views, stifle free speech and generate fear and suspicion. Their programs are ripe for abuse, with neighbors reporting neighbors in order to avenge some slight or end a disagreement.
It’s the mark of the end of a free society.
As I ponder the words of Luke in the New Testament — “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,” I wonder how that can be possible in today’s world. There are no prophets among the leaders of the world’s nations capable of leading us. Certainly America’s new leadership is even more divisive than Trump or Obama (which I didn’t think was even possible).
No, if there is to be any hope of peace in our future, I believe it will have to come from the bottom up, beginning with you and me. We can begin by hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
One of us alone will not bring peace to the world, but if by our manner and words we, each of us, convinces just one other person to uphold the values of our founders, the mathematics of geometric progression can grow the movement into multitudes of billions, perhaps within our lifetimes.
Now, I’m not proposing we turn into naïve idealistic pacifist flower-child peaceniks like the phony hippies of the 60s. I’m talking about doing our best to put into actual practice the lofty and noble principles we claim to embrace, whatever religion we subscribe to. In other words, let’s practice what we preach.
In his first inaugural address, James Monroe said, “Peace is the best time for improvement and preparation of every kind.”
Start by making peace with yourself, resolving or coming to terms with the conflicts within you that make you edgy or angry and ready to lash out. If you can’t love you, why should you expect anyone else to? When you feel slighted or offended by someone, before you strike back in anger, consider what troubles that person may be enduring that just happened to spill out against you.
Follow the Golden Rule and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Teach children kindness and respect for others by the example of how you conduct your own life.
Lend a hand to someone in trouble or lost or confused instead of passing them by unheeded. Greet strangers in passing with a smile and a cheery “Good morning.” Give another driver a break to get in the traffic line. It’s amazing how infectious being courteous and polite can be, and it doesn’t cost you a dime.
Yes, I know these are old cliché platitudes you’ve heard all your life. But I think that even though they are familiar, many of us — myself included — may have been bullied into letting our noble intentions be compromised.
There’s another old cliché that bears repeating constantly. The spirit of Christmas should be with us all year long, not just in the month of December. It’s easy to get caught up in the joy of the moment in this festive time, but also easy to forget it quickly in the cold days of winter and life as usual that follow.
The real test of our resolve to live according to the principles we say we believe in comes when the news is full of dread, taxes are due, work is not going well and personal relationships sour.
It is then we need most to stand by those principles and not give in to the temptation to wield a poisoned sword. It is in coping with the sometimes difficult realities of daily life that I’m reminded of a passage from Max Erhmann’s famous Desiderata:
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
