Living in the now, and in the not yet...



For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

Prince of Peace...one of my favorite titles for Jesus. Even hearing the word "peace" makes me feel better...calmer...more settled on the inside. In Hebrew, the word for peace, "shalom," doesn't necessarily mean the absence of conflict. Again and again, as I read about the word and its meaning, I was struck by a recurring theme: wholeness.

To be whole is to be well, to be complete and undivided in heart and soul, as well as in our health and relationships. Wholeness bespeaks a condition where we lack nothing, having the quality of being finished. When we use the greeting, "Peace to you," these are the ideas that we convey to one another. I wish for you health, and that your heart, mind and soul be whole and complete.

We live in a fractured world, and many of us today are living fractured lives...lives that feel unfinished, broken, and incomplete. And yet, in this Advent season, the Prince of Peace comes to us and offers his wholeness. With him present in our broken world, we can say with the hymn writer, "It is well with my soul." Do you feel it now? This wellness, this sense of peace and wholeness? I do on some days, and then on other days it seems only a distant dream...a wish that lies just beyond my grasp.

This is the nature of living in the now, and in the not yet. As we've said before, we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace at his birth...we anticipate his coming into our lives in the here and now, and we look forward to his coming again in glory. We are, in a very real sense, caught betwixt and between...in the mystery of what is, and what is not yet. Jesus himself, when he spoke of the Kingdom of God, described it as being present among us now, and coming in the future.

The kingdom process reminds me of the planting of a seed. We plant a seed in the ground, water it...and wait. Somehow, in a process that we cannot fully see or understand, the seed becomes plant...it grows tall and strong, and eventually bears fruit. Likewise, God has come and planted himself among us...a seed planted in our world...a seed planted in our hearts. It is the seed of peace that grows within us today...we cannot fully comprehend how it works and grows...we cannot dissect the mystery of faith, but we anticipate the tree of life it will become, whose fruit in us is peace.

Peace to you this day.

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