Peace: Change your Mind - Let it Go

A few weeks ago, I was shopping for Christmas cards, having finally made the decision to buy the cards instead of using a photograph; I figured with social media, people have seen enough pics of me, and I’ve not changed so much (nor has my husband) that a picture of us with “Merry Christmas” emblazoned along the bottom will be all that special.

The decision as to what type of cards to get when sending out my own Christmas greeting is always a bit confusing. Secular? Religious? Neutral winter landscapes? A simple wreath? Cute winter animals? … it’s all a bit random, rather arcane. One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that one of the more common phrases used - not only in Christmas cards but in all manner of ways around Christmas is “Peace on Earth”. We use lots of phrases we really don’t mean (or don’t really understand) at this time of year simply because it’s what’s expected; wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” , “Happy Holidays”, or acknowledging the sentiments of “peace” and “joy” during this season has become commonplace, trite. And as all things trite, they’ve lost much of their meaning.

“Peace on Earth” is certainly the champion of trite phrases, bandied about only in these weeks. The concept of peace - whether on earth or in our hearts - seems imprisoned in December, forever relegated to a snowy winter scene with a red cardinal in the green pine. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have much peace, at least there’s little evidence of it. Our own political landscape here in the United States shouts out loud to the fact there is no peace in our country. A quick glance of headlines at any time of year will confirm there surely is no peace on earth. And judging by the anger and short tempers on social media, on our roads, at malls and schools, there’s not much personal peace, either. If we can’t find peace in our own hearts, how can we possibly bring about peace on earth?

And that’s the crux of the matter, isn't it? We don’t really understand what peace means, and we can’t imagine how to get it, never mind maintain it or spread it around the world. And if we don’t know how to achieve our own inner peace, or how to make peace with our families, our friends, and community - why do we think we’d ever achieve peace on earth? The reality is that world peace is possible only when each of us accepts the responsibility for our own peace. And I truly believe we want to be at peace; we just haven’t a clue how to go about it. And yes, Jesus came to bring peace (among other things), it’s just that we’ve not grasped how he chose to bring it about. We’ve missed the message.

The problem lies, in great part, on our gross misunderstanding of two words: repentance and forgiveness. Just seeing them strikes terror in the bravest hearts. Looking at Luke’s description of John the Baptist (bear with me; I know he’s one scary guy, but really - I promise I’m going somewhere kind), Luke introduces John when he down by the River Jordan, calling the people to repent and seek forgiveness. Of course, that’s an immediate turn-off to our post-modern, ultra-independent 21st century minds. Repentance is not a warm and fuzzy word; it elicits visions of fire and brimstone, harsh judgment, sacrifice, penitence. And yet, the Greek word used in Luke’s gospel is actually metaneo, meaning to change one’s mind - no hint there of hair shirts and penance. And forgiveness seems just as churchy a word as repentance, but again - if we look at the Greek word that was used by Luke, he used the word aphesis, meaning to let go, to release. So, if we look underneath the two thousand years of language that obfuscates to what John the Baptist was really saying through Luke, we see that what he was trying to say was “change your mind, and let it go.”

We are being asked to change our minds; about us, about the world, about other people. We change our mind in what we expect from others; we change our mind, and refuse offense, refuse anger, refuse revenge. We change our minds when we let go of the unrealistic expectations we have of the world, of others, of ourselves. But even more than that, we change our minds when we let go of festering wounds, of hurts and offenses both old and recent; when we refuse to carry around the baggage of our past failures and sorrows. If we don’t let them go, we’ll never have peace. If we don’t change our minds about what others should do or how they should behave, we’ll constantly be offended, angry, bitter, and anxious, and peace will remain merely a trite salutation for a couple of weeks in early winter.

I’m reminded of Old Marley in Charles Dickens’ book The Christmas Carol, my very favorite Christmas story outside of the Nativity. I’ve watched many versions of the movie over the years (some many times), and have read the original Dickens book as well. Dickens’ genius in portraying Marley was in his description of the bitter old man bound by chains, chains that bound him even beyond the grave. I think it’s a wonderful picture of how we carry around our hurts and wounds like so many rattling chains, drowning out the peace we so desperately crave.

We are asked to change our minds, and then let go. Letting go is forgiveness by intention, a practical action we can take no matter what has been done to us. Although letting go sounds passive, it takes an incredible fortitude of character to let go of offense, of woundedness, of the need to blame others for the hurt and pain. The whole idea of “letting go” takes forgiveness out of the church building, and brings it into the dark streets of our broken world. We let go of offenses - both real and perceived. We let go of the need to wound the other, tit for tat. We let go of our own unrealistic expectations and hurts, and forgive ourselves, breaking the chains that bind us and keep us from being at peace.

And if we don’t change our minds, and “let go”? We’ll remain bound up in the chains of old wounds and offenses, doomed to roam our lives away in anger and bitterness - much like Marley did for eternity. In not changing our minds, and not letting go, we close ourselves off to even the possibility of peace. Because, you see, peace is only possible when we get rid of those chains. God will not pour out His peace into a heart that is bitter and angry for no other reason than that there’s no room there for peace.

Christmas is a time to reflect on peace, not only on earth but in our hearts. We may not be able to broker world peace among nations, but we can start with breaking off our own chains of offense and woundedness. We can change our minds and let it go.

May this Christmas truly be a time when you learn the how of peace, and may you experience His peace - the kind of peace that passes far above our understanding.