by Rev Douglas Brauner

The hope of holding on to God’s peace.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Do these two trees look like your struggles this past Christmas? Granted, you might not see what I see.

Sondermann Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado

To me it looks like these two Cottonwood trees are fighting each other. Their branches are reaching out to throw the next best punch, and leaning back to avoid the blow from the other tree.

• A car cut you off on the way to the mall, and you end up in a fender-bender.
• The store clerk went on break as soon as you reached the check-out counter, and didn’t even say they were sorry.
• You got in a fight with your spouse over something trivial on the way to Christmas Eve worship service.

It’s not the way we envisioned Christmas being. We believed that our spouse should be the kindest, most loving person, that every store clerk should treat us like royalty, and that motorists should yield the right-of-way.

Welcome to reality, a reality that is reflected every other day of the year. Very seldom do relationships go the way that we hope, or expect, them to go. In our dueling nature we read the word of King David in Psalm 29.

“May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!”
Psalm 29:11 English Standard Version

We’re tempted to respond to David that peace would be a reality for us if… Well, you fill in the blank. However, this being the fourth day of Christmas, we realize that the peace that comes from the baby is a peace that God gives. It comes in the baby born to forgive us for our dueling nature. It’s a peace that we don’t deserve, but which we hold dear.

As we gaze off the cliff into 2019, we realize that there will probably be times when someone cuts us off, when a clerk acts as if we don’t exist, and when we fight with our spouse. In those moments, may we hold on to the peace that transcends, and changes, our dueling nature.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado