Peace???

 I was preparing.

That's what Advent is about - right???

Four days ahead of the second Sunday in Advent, I asked my friend, Sue, for the readings.

I opened the Scripture and read from Isaiah 40 which begins with "Comfort! Comfort ye my people".    

Comfort???

What does that have to do with JOY?

So I wrote a blog - without the use of that Scripture.

And then in the early hours of the Second Sunday of Advent, I prepared to finalize that blog - and post it.

. . . but first I changed my home page on Facebook and found

The Second Candle of Advent is Peace.

The blog I had written is about JOY

I can tell you that for about 20 minutes, I had no peace.  I was in a major flit as I went through my morning routine - NY Times Wordle; NY Times Mini Crossword; NY Times Connection and then the daily devotional that comes into my Email account each day.

And there it was: "Casting all your care upon Him for he careth for you". (I Peter 5:7)  And wouldn't you know it -  the accompanying music:

That has long been my favorite hymn. 

Then I went to church and participated in the prayer of confession: the words - make us ready to extend peace... jumped off the page.

There have been many times in my more than 7 decades that I did not have peace.  I have been disappointed in someone or a situation.  And yet the God of Grace has either provided the opportunity for me to find a way to reconcile or given me the peace to be able to move on.

I especially remember that confusing first Christmas when my children and I were in the early days of being a single family.  I was 35 years old - and working full time for the first time since before my first child was born.  I had been a pastor's wife for more than 15 years.  I was thankfully always going to be a mom.  I believed that with the help of my family, we would be okay.  What I didn't know was how I might find my way in a church?

I had felt that God "called" me to be a minister's wife.  I was angry that that role had been stolen from me.  I was disappointed - so disappointed.  I was angry.  That was 41 Christmases ago.  

And somehow through lots of counsel, prayer, and finding ways to give thanks I was able to reconcile with the thief -- and more than that find peace.

My life is calm right now - family is good; friendships are outstanding; finances comfortable.  However to be honest, sometimes that ugly head of disappointment and anger creeps up again.  When that happens, I make an effort to replace the negative with positive - recognizing that indeed God has a plan much better for me. 

And that's my take on peace = this Second Sunday of Advent 2023.

                                                    May you have enough sunshine in your life

                                                         To make you appreciate the shadows

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