Last night I attended a supper where we lit the advent candle and I shared a few comments about Advent and peace. I then invited others to share an incident when they, or someone else, functioned as an instrument of God’s peace. Doug told of being on a trip to Israel and how, on one occasion, their Israeli guide, who could not enter the Palestinian sections because she was Israeli, had suggested that if they had shopping to do they should venture into the Palestinian sections on their own and spend their money there. “As you can see”, she told them, “they are very poor and we have lots. They need your money more than we do.”
There is a Spirit that causes me to notice that I have more than I require while others are coming up short; that someone who’s supposed to be an opponent, or even an enemy of mine, has the same needs I have; that disparity is not just a problem for the disadvantaged, but for everybody. It was this Spirit that caused my brother, who was a very successful business man, to insist that a deal is a good deal only if it’s good for everyone. And it is this same Spirit that insists there are no women’s issues that are not men’s issues, black issues that are not white issues, issues of poverty that are not issues of wealth. This Spirit keeps breaching the walls, crossing the borders, fostering relationships between Romeos and Juliets, princes and paupers, beauties and beasts; keeps healing the world.
No Man Is An Island
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of mine
own were; any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
– John Donne (1572 – 1631)
This is the Spirit of Christmas, the Spirit of Peace.
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1 comment:
I think this is a Spirit that is slowly seeping away. It is becoming more uncommon to witness acts of kindness for kindness sake. There is an underlying motive in most actions lately that move from the place of "what's in it for me" or "it's not my mess" or "it doesn't concern me so why should I bother". We have become so narrow in our focus that we have lost sight of humanity. More and more I think that Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" should be pondered, meditated on and prayerfully considered. God Bless us everyone!! In most circumstances I can recall God blesses me through the actions of other people. We need to recognize our critical part in humanity.
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