Give Peace a Chance!
Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
A friend reminded me of a time when we just wanted be hippies who would never grow old. The “beautiful” people who lived for rock and roll and lived in a place (“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” sometimes induced by drugs) where PEACE was the only rule of law!
All they were saying…
The dictionary (*on my computer) defines peace as 1. freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility: 2. a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended:…
… is give peace a chance! **remember 1969 and the song written by John Lennon? (Per Google he and Yoko were having a “bed-in” – their version of a peaceful demonstration – in Montreal, Canada when he wrote it)
… a bed-in… mmmmm
When I look back on that time in our life, I realize that what we all were trying to escape – though we explained it in words and word pictures that sounded very “right on, dude”, and even patriotic – we really were a generation that HATED personal responsibility… i.e. growing up.
Peace was defined as freedom from war and war was defined as anything that stood in the way of immediate gratification at having MY WAY!
If I was not mellow and happy, it was always the fault of those evil authority figures. As we threw tantrums against them although and their wicked ways, we still very much expected THEM to provide OUR WORLD without end.
Whether or not we bear the soul of a hippy today, we still seem to define peace in terms of freedom from interrupted playtime – WHICH WAR CAUSES, without cost to us.
Most people see peace and war as two separate events, when in fact they are two sides of the same event called… wait for it… RELATIONSHIP.
We tend to believe that peace and war describe two types of people, with peace having all the good people on its side and war having all the evil people.
The fact of the matter is everyone of us have the passion for either, depending on which side motivates our will, our ability to choose, whom we will unite with for THE CAUSE… the cause being DISCONTENTMENT WITH WHAT IS.
Philippians 4:11-12 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
If lovingkindness and truth meet together they will seek to find the best for all, and righteousness and peace WILL KISS each other!
Peace isn’t the absence of war, it’s the absence of fear for today and tomorrow. War isn’t the absence of peace, it’s the absence of trust in today and tomorrow.
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil (fear and mistrust) and do good; Seek peace (love and truth) and pursue it (seek with all your heart to put love and truth together).
Above all seek God and His peace. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
First, peace with God… the author of LOVE and LOVINGKINDNESS…
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Next, peace with your world… dwelling always on THE TRUTH…
Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things…
Love meets truth… practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you… and… Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
All I am saying is… Give Peace a Chance!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.