Let it begin with me

I know a lot of people who don’t care for President Obama. I know a lot who do. I’m sure those two groups could have quite the lively exchange. However, we won’t have that here, will we? Pretty please. No bashing anyone. All right? 

Good.

Last night the president addressed the nation. Terrorism, guns, violence, airstrikes, combat. All words he used. All he had to use.

We are in troubling times, my friends. Troubling, indeed.

I don’t envy him in the least.

About twenty minutes before his address aired, I was already clenching my  jaw, knowing the splattering of venom that was sure to hit Facebook and Twitter because of what the president was sure to say.

I’ll say it again, we’re in troubling times.

Over the past month I’ve had friends break fellowship with one another over political leanings. I’ve witnessed debates that went beyond civility and into hateful. I’ve been heartsick over the vitriol in comment sections.

So, whenever the president says anything, I steel myself for a firestorm online.

Then, as I waited for the address, I saw a commercial from Microsoft. It made me cry.

I know. I know.

But they were singing one of my very favorite carols. The one line in that song gets me every time.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Yes. Exactly. Let peace begin in my heart. Let it swell and overflow and run over into the lives of those around me. So I started to pray for President Obama.

And I prayed for peace.

Peace in my heart and peace in my home. Peace in my circle of friends and in their families. Peace as we’re out shopping or driving or interacting online. Peace that radiates to the clerk at the store and the barista at the coffeeshop.

Peace in my words both written and spoken. Peace in my thoughts. Peace which proves infectious. Peace that passes understanding.

If I want peace on earth, I need to be at peace. I need to pray for it, think on it, remember where the peace I desire comes from.

True peace is not human made. It is divinely given.

So, this second week of Advent, the week of peace, I pray. I pray that God will let there be peace on earth. And I surrender to let that peace begin with me.