Peace on Earth - can it be?

Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

Nationwide coronavirus regulations ended this week. In London the transition from lockdown into Tier Two restrictions brought the re-opening of gyms, swimming pools, restaurants and places of worship. Individuals must now make their own decisions about what it is 'safe' to do at this point in the COVID-19 pandemic. While many welcome the changes, others are anxious about the consequences.

Many churches will re-open for services tomorrow. As we light candles on this second Sunday of Advent we will pray for peace. Each year as Christmas approaches we hear again the promise in the words of the angels proclaiming peace on earth and goodwill to all people. In some years the need claim that promise in prayer seems more pressing than in others.

In 2001, my first Christmas as a Christian minister, we prayed for peace three months after the terror attacks in New York. Anxiety was high as the ensuing 'war on terror' began. In 2008, we prayed for peace as the international banking crisis deepened. Anxiety was rising as a global economic collapse loomed. In 2016 Brexit divided Britain. We prayed for peace and reconciliation in a society at war with itself. 

Christmas 2020 approaches. Soon we will hear again the words of the angels in our bible readings and in the old familiar carols. And together we will pray for the peace that passes all understanding to bring comfort and hope to a troubled and grieving world.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

From It came upon the midnight clear (Edmund Sears, 1849)