Piece on Earth

Pastor George Garrison continues his occasional series, "Thursday Thoughts," on topics origianllly prompted nearly two years ago by the American struggle with COVID-19, racial inequality, and a presidential election in a deeply divided nation. This piece was distributed with the Christmas greeting from his family to the congregation of Immanuuel Presbyterian Church, which he pastors, in Warrenville, Illinois.

This isn’t the type of piece we were hoping for. Much of what characterizes the world right now is fragmented and incomplete. We’re coping with a piece, a partial version of what we’re used to experiencing this time of year. 2021 was a step in the right direction out of our pandemic predicament, but there are still many steps that await us. The large piece of our national herd still succumbing to COVID and its variants means immunity is still well beyond our reach. Many must put holiday travel plans on hold or make alterations. The gatherings around the Christmas tree and the Christmas table in our homes will be smaller than most years, as will be our church gatherings.

But in addition to the affected physical aspects of the holiday season, it’s easy to feel somewhat fragmented mentally and emotionally as well. In general, we feel “at piece.” We find our levels of concentration dipping; we have conversations where we are not “all there.” Customer service in general is suffering (or am I the only one who's noticed?) due more to brain fog than inadequate training.

Our attention spans are shorter, perhaps our prayer lives are fragmented, and maybe there are gaps in our usually more consistent spiritual practices. And the pieces propagate. Missing a key portion of sleep means we leave out a key piece of information at work. Missing a piece of our concentration means missing a key portion of what our family member or good friend is telling us. We’re tired, we’re discouraged, we’re a fraction of our usual selves, and we’re not alone. The whole world is a piece of its old self.

And then, God sends His Son. The angels proclaim at His birth in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” The Hebrew word for peace in the OT- “shalom,” is the antithesis of piece, or what it means to be fragmented and incomplete. “Wholeness” probably best captures the essence of this word. And here, at the birth of Jesus, the angels announce a peace that can truly lead to this wholeness, for peace with God has been born as God gives the gift of His Son. And this inner harmony is achieved as the human soul now has peace with its Lord. As a result, peace comes about in mutual relations between human beings. We are at peace with God, within ourselves, and with others. This is God’s great gift of peace to us!

And this is the peace that came to earth and is still on earth, even while our world copes with the pieces of life. COVID is still a horrible force to be reckoned with, distancing is still a necessary irritant, restrictions are still in place and more may be coming, but in the area that matters most- our relationship with God, there is peace on earth. The peace of the Prince of Peace still reigns.

From our family to each of you- our church family, may you know God’s peace in a deep and meaningful way this Christmas.

Pastor George