[Advent] The Peace of Elizabeth
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45) Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-45 Pregnancy and childbirth are no walk in the park under normal circumstances for a woman in her young and vigorous “childbearing years.” But for Elizabeth, who was already a barren senior citizen with no children and had a newly mute husband to boot (see last week’s post about Zechariah), it would make sense for her gestation period to be anything but full of peace. And yet, that’s what she brought to Mary – another newly-pregnant-under-wildly-strange-circumstances woman. An angel had prophesied the birth of Elizabeth’s son in her…
[Advent Week 3] The Bethlehem Candle
One of my favorite lessons about peace is something we teach our students in the Institute during our Peacemaking courses: peace is not the absence of conflict, but recognizing the presence of God in it. The second candle on the Advent wreath is often called the “Bethlehem Candle,” and it represents how Jesus’ arrival on Earth signaled the arrival of true peace. Emmanuel – God with us – the very presence of God in human form, made peace possible. We can now access “peace that surpasses human understanding.” I can think of so many people who need to hear about this peace. And I want to be able to share…
