More than not
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Growing up I can remember the power of a simple putdown. It was a pretty 'primary-school' tactic, but all you had to do was say a compliment... pause... and then add an emphatic "not!"
"You're cool... not."
"You're really good at sport... not."
You get the point.
"You're really good at sport... not."
You get the point.
Somehow it was more powerful than simply calling someone a loser or hopeless at sport.
It's because being cool is more than just being 'not a loser.'
It's because being cool is more than just being 'not a loser.'
Then beauty is just the absence of ugliness;
happiness the absence of sadness,
hope the absence of despair.
hope the absence of despair.
We'd lose a whole lot of their range of meaning, their wonder, their power.
Sadly that's what we do to "peace."
It's often used to describe an absence of war, destruction and chaos.
It's often used to describe an absence of war, destruction and chaos.
Peace is more than "not war."
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| Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash |
Peace is about wholeness,
completion.
Rest, restoration and reconciliation.
Rest, restoration and reconciliation.
So when the angels declare at Jesus' birth –
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." [Luke 2:14]
– they're not just heralding an end of war (although that's certainly part of it), they're proclaiming the coming of wholeness.
In our psyche and soul,
families and relationships,
work and leisure;
wholeness to the whole of life.
families and relationships,
work and leisure;
wholeness to the whole of life.
Jesus came not just to end something, but to begin it.
Peace has come.
Peace has come.
