Like so many families that I know, during the 1980s parents were still alive. Regularly, families on both sides were on our list of places to visit during the Christmas press between noon Christmas Eve and the end of Christmas Day.
In the heat of the season, I tried to visit grandparents in addition to my parents and my wife’s parents. It was my responsibility to include my role as minister leading the Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion in the list of commitments in these intense 48 hours.
It was always great to see all of those people, and for the most part, we celebrated Christmas in each of those places and everyone understood who we were as family, parents, children, and grandchildren. Celebrating the birth of Jesus and His role as Prince of Peace called me to look forward to the day when I would be able to know the “Peace of Christ” in all of the events of the Christmas celebration I worked hard knowing how to keep the relationships of family and the activities in that special time. It was years later before I realized how important it was for me to take charge of my relationship with God and live out my responsibility to keep “peace” in my own life.
Time and age and changes in roles and responsibilities have made finding peace at Christmas a little bit easier these days. In the spirit of believing that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” I continue to remember that it’s my responsibility to keep peace in my life, to search for the peace that God brings to earth all the time and especially during the Christmas celebration each year.
It’s still not easy to find peace in the busy time. I still look for the peace that God brings at Christmas in the time of celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus.
Here’s an invitation for you to seek peace this Christmas season.
