A New Years Wish

Blessed are the Peacemakers

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6

So here we are, some 2000 years since the coming of the prophesied Christ, the Prince of Peace. We've just celebrated the birth of the Christ child, gathered with family and friends, feasted and indulged in commercialism to our hearts (dis)content. Still there is no peace. Where is the foretold peace? In every nook and cranny of the world there is violence and/or war, as there always has been. Humanity's struggle for dominance continues on, blood is shed, lives are senslessly lost. 

Jesus Christ spoke the simple words "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God," yet we remain ignorant of our part in this peaceful kingdom. Have we misunderstood? Have followers of Christ believed the lie that violent means and weaponry can keep us protected and secure? Is not Christ, the Prince of Peace, our rod and staff, our promised Protector? Oh, that we would only believe it and act on it. Many Christians await the return of Christ where he rides in, sets everything right and restores the earth, justice and peace, but what if it's God's intent for us to do it, right here, right now? There are of course Christians who want to establish a Christian nation designed to mandate and enforce Old Testament morality to the masses, but how about we just stick with love, peace, justice and mercy?

What if we went  about building that invisible Kingdom of love, peace and justice that Christ spoke of that's already in our midst? Let's let the light of Divine love and peace shine from our lives. We may not be able to change the whole world with this effort, but we can effect change in our spheres of influence, it grows from there. 

Lord Christ, Prince of Peace, infuse us with your Divine peace and love, give us an understanding of what peace really means, in our faith, our hearts, lives and in our world. Help us to imagine peace and live in peace. In Your Holy Name, So be it. 

Hope.... Hold On, Pain Eases...

When you are grieving, sometimes having hope simply means the holding onto the belief that one day your pain will ease, a belief that you won't always have the heart shredding, debilitating pain that you currently live with. Sometimes hope is simply believing that one day things will be better.

Even though you might not feel any hope or progress in feeling better as you are grieving, just know that if you actively work through your grief one day at a time, the pain will ease over time. Don't be mistaken, grief is work. It's not just a feeling or a concept. It's a process that you engage and work through. Every tear, every written word, every spoken word, every book and article read, every visit to the cemetery, every candle lit, every interaction in a grief group, every sad song tearfully sung, every moment spent looking at pictures in photo albums, every act of creation that is driven by your sorrow, you are working through your grief. It doesn't feel healing, but one day it will be noticeable to you that the pain is not as intense, that you can breathe easier and smile without gut wrenching pain.

Try to not focus on being healed of grief, rather consider it a success at the end of each day if you've done something to honor your grief. Grief, after all, is our outward expression of love towards the one/ones we are missing so desperately. Please hold on, in time the pain eases. 

One Year Since Sandy Hook, Gun Mania Still Rampant in America

Today marks one year since the Sandy Hook school shooting massacre. I've been reading news stories as of late about gun laws being looser today than than they were a year ago. It seems that a small handful of states of have made better laws, but the majority of those that took action, did so by making guns easier to get. 

This fact just me want to cry for the children of this nation. When did our ideology become so twisted that our right to bear arms became more important than the safety of our most vulnerable citizens, our children. Are we so fear driven that we really believe that an assault rifle can save us from any impending government doom? 

I am for our right to bear arms in the USA, though I absolutely hate guns and gun violence, I support our right to own them. I do however, long to see a return to common sense concerning guns. If you have guns, lock them up, don't let your kids handle them or even have access to them. On the scale of society we need gun reform so desperately. I have written my government representatives about it and I hope you will too if you haven't before. If you have, thank you, keep up the good work. 

We must remember this tragedy beyond this heart wrenching anniversary and take appropriate action in our personal lives, as communities and as a society. Speak out for gun control on online forums, speak out to your friends and family. If we can't get rid of guns, we can at least raise consciousness on what we can do to keep them locked and secure in gun cabinets and out of the hands of the mentally unwell and/or potential gunmen. I think we owe at least that to the children and adult victims who died looking down the barrel of an assault rifle. 

God help us as a nation to lose our gun obsession and put our children and vulnerable citizens first. Amen.