This past year I have travelled to many countries and met a lot of incredibly wonderful people. Many of these people exemplify the person of Jesus in their ordinary day to day life. These types of people always inspire in me the hope for better things to come as we all learn to live in a way that honors our Creator by honoring His Creation. That includes other people, even those that we don't understand, appreciate, or love as we should.
One of the CFHI Board members sent me this Christmas message and I want to share it with you as I think it is significant.
"What do you mean: "Peace on earth"? In my struggle to reconcile the terrible atrocities of war, the incomprehensible suffering of my fellow world citizens, and the unfathomable distance between rich and poor, I read the vision of the old Prophet Isaiah as he describes it in chapter 11:
'The Spirit of the LORD will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the LORD. His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD. This King won't judge by appearances or listen to rumors. The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness and with justice. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God.'
Reading this made depressed me at first, until I realized that this is exactly what Jesus came to bring to this earth. Certainly part of Isaiah's vision is still to be fulfilled, but the anticipation of the fulfillment of that marvelous vision of the peaceable Kingdom, in which all violence has been overcome and all men, women, and children live in loving unity with one another, calls for its realization in our day-to-day lives.
As we read in the words of Henry Nouwen: 'Instead of being an escapist, dream; it challenges us to anticipate what it promises. Every time we forgive our neighbor, every time we make a child smile, every time we show compassion to a suffering person, every time we arrange a bouquet of flowers, offer care to tame or wild animals, prevent pollution, create beauty in our homes and gardens, work for peace and justice among peoples and nations we are making the vision come true. We must remind one another constantly of the Vision. Whenever it comes alive in us we will find new energy to live it out, right where we are. Instead of making us escape real life, this beautiful Vision gets us involved'."
It is my prayer that each of us will experience the Peace and Joy that came with the birth of God's Son this season.
Merry Christmas!
One of the CFHI Board members sent me this Christmas message and I want to share it with you as I think it is significant.
"What do you mean: "Peace on earth"? In my struggle to reconcile the terrible atrocities of war, the incomprehensible suffering of my fellow world citizens, and the unfathomable distance between rich and poor, I read the vision of the old Prophet Isaiah as he describes it in chapter 11:
'The Spirit of the LORD will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the LORD. His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD. This King won't judge by appearances or listen to rumors. The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness and with justice. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God.'
Reading this made depressed me at first, until I realized that this is exactly what Jesus came to bring to this earth. Certainly part of Isaiah's vision is still to be fulfilled, but the anticipation of the fulfillment of that marvelous vision of the peaceable Kingdom, in which all violence has been overcome and all men, women, and children live in loving unity with one another, calls for its realization in our day-to-day lives.
As we read in the words of Henry Nouwen: 'Instead of being an escapist, dream; it challenges us to anticipate what it promises. Every time we forgive our neighbor, every time we make a child smile, every time we show compassion to a suffering person, every time we arrange a bouquet of flowers, offer care to tame or wild animals, prevent pollution, create beauty in our homes and gardens, work for peace and justice among peoples and nations we are making the vision come true. We must remind one another constantly of the Vision. Whenever it comes alive in us we will find new energy to live it out, right where we are. Instead of making us escape real life, this beautiful Vision gets us involved'."
It is my prayer that each of us will experience the Peace and Joy that came with the birth of God's Son this season.
Merry Christmas!
