Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men.....?
In two weeks, Christmas will be over. All that will remain is torn wrapping paper and those little wire things they twist around everything to keep it all in place. I feel like I have a little wire thing wrapped around me keeping me in place!
I believe it was just shortly before the very first Christmas on a starry, and likely a cold night, that an angel appeared to shepherds, who were cold, and tired, and said "Hey! I have GREAT news! Go and see! For now there will be PEACE on earth! And GOODWILL to men!"
Oh we are so bad at the peace part--and even the goodwill part!
This weekend I finally got to this point of being SICK and TIRED of worrying!!!! I didn't feel peace or joy. And goodwill was hard to come by unless I happened to drive by a store bearing the name! So I gave myself a Christmas break. I decided to stop worrying. I am tired of it. And it robs me of peace. Steals it clean away. And you know who is winning that battle, right?
I have made an assessment of why the angel said peace first and goodwill second. Its hard to share goodwill when the peace portion is missing. Would you agree? If we aren't feeling at peace then we tend to share grumpwill. Yes, I did just invent that word and it does exsist. :-) Its a horrible way to live! I felt myself losing my emotional response to anything. I felt flat. And those of you who know me, know that I love laughing, and when I don't, something is seriously wrong. My peace was gone. I know there is much to be worried about, our own country men seem to be at war with one another, picketing and yelling, and swat teams visible on our city streets. I find that extremely frightening. I know that many of us are struggling financially. This has the ability to take the wind out of your sails! And we give money so much POWER. When really, its just money. Here is what I have to keep telling myself. IT CANNOT KEEP ME FROM BEING LOVED. IT CANNOT KEEP ME FROM LOVING BACK. IF IT STEALS MY JOY ITS BECAUSE I LET IT. IT SHOULD NOT HAVE THE POWER TO STEAL MY PEACE.
I believe it was just shortly before the very first Christmas on a starry, and likely a cold night, that an angel appeared to shepherds, who were cold, and tired, and said "Hey! I have GREAT news! Go and see! For now there will be PEACE on earth! And GOODWILL to men!"
Oh we are so bad at the peace part--and even the goodwill part!
This weekend I finally got to this point of being SICK and TIRED of worrying!!!! I didn't feel peace or joy. And goodwill was hard to come by unless I happened to drive by a store bearing the name! So I gave myself a Christmas break. I decided to stop worrying. I am tired of it. And it robs me of peace. Steals it clean away. And you know who is winning that battle, right?
I have made an assessment of why the angel said peace first and goodwill second. Its hard to share goodwill when the peace portion is missing. Would you agree? If we aren't feeling at peace then we tend to share grumpwill. Yes, I did just invent that word and it does exsist. :-) Its a horrible way to live! I felt myself losing my emotional response to anything. I felt flat. And those of you who know me, know that I love laughing, and when I don't, something is seriously wrong. My peace was gone. I know there is much to be worried about, our own country men seem to be at war with one another, picketing and yelling, and swat teams visible on our city streets. I find that extremely frightening. I know that many of us are struggling financially. This has the ability to take the wind out of your sails! And we give money so much POWER. When really, its just money. Here is what I have to keep telling myself. IT CANNOT KEEP ME FROM BEING LOVED. IT CANNOT KEEP ME FROM LOVING BACK. IF IT STEALS MY JOY ITS BECAUSE I LET IT. IT SHOULD NOT HAVE THE POWER TO STEAL MY PEACE.I don't have any wise words for you to help you overcome whatever is stealing your peace this season. But I just want to encourage you to take heed of the words of the angel, and perhaps be the one who causes peace and goodwill for another. Give yourself a Christmas break from all of the chaos that is stealing your joy, pour a cup of coffee for you, and maybe a friend, and enjoy some of that Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men.
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