*Peace and goodwill to all!*
The angels told the shepherds 'peace and goodwill to all'. This was more than just a salutation. It was a wish, a prayer ànd a blessing of the divine, that the Babe of Bethlehem would make a difference in the dark and gloom of their world.
2000 years later, the world hasn't changed. With each new generation, the story is retold, Jesus is made known again and again in the salutation 'Peace and goodwill to all' . Thus, it becomes a mandate, a rule or a law of life for all to choose.
Peace we clearly understand is the absence of war. For most of us, our war is in heads with ourselves - what we should have done, what we did, how someone made us feel, how we made others feel. With peace, there is no fighting in our heads or hearts. With the peace and goodwill that comes with the Bethlehem babe, our anxieties are put to rest, and we are able to let go.
As the hymn says, 'The hopes and fears of all the years are met' in the coming of Jesus into our hearts. 'Met' suggests to me knowing or acknowledging some newly discovered thing. It is a coming together of like minds, where the compassion, goodness, and graciousness of Jesus is born in (comes to) us.
It is as my friend posted on Facebook, "When you choose peace, it comes with a lot of goodbyes." As accepting this peace and goodwill that comes with the birth of Jesus, means emptying ourselves as Jesus emptied himself (Philippians 2:7), becoming the human that Jesus has taught us to be. Whereas Jesus emptied himself of his divinity, we empty ourselves of our sinful nature to be more like Jesus. Emptying oneself means saying goodbye (putting aside) those things which:
Make us bitter
make us uncomfortable and unable to sleep
cause regret.
make us unhappy
We fill up on the Holy Spirit and keep the things that allow us to live:
A life of wholeness,
In unity and togetherness with all peoples
Respectful of others even when they are disrespectful.
A full life feeling joy at all times.
We are able to express the unconditional love of God as Jesus showed us how and to be gracious to others as God extends God's grace to us. We choose peace intentionally
Friends, I therefore encourage us to say goodbye to some things and find peace in others. Let us in this new calendar year 2023 be intentional in embracing the Christ within, beside and before us, and the Christ in friend and stranger, while learning to know the Peace that only God gives. I pray that we will greet each other this Christmastide and always with a blessing of Peace and Goodwill.
A peaceful and holy life to us all.
The Rev. Hilda Vaughan
Priest in Charge
St. Andrew's (Gilnock) Cure of Churches
The Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands
