The Second Sunday of Advent ~ Peace
This site contains affiliate links from which we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
How was your last week of Christmas prep? Have you spent some time journaling, planning or stitching?
Today we are virtually lighting the candle of Peace:
This Advent series is in memory of my dear blog friend Susan who gave us Advent inspiration each year. You can read her old Advent blog posts here.
What is Peace?
The Oxford Dictionary defines peace as:
Freedom from disturbance; tranquillity
My artificial intelligence friend has scoured the web and come up with this definition:
Peace is a state of harmony and tranquility, where conflict, tension, or disturbance is absent.
Both are good definitions, and we all want peace, don’t we? And we all want that this Christmas – in our homes, and in the world.
Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men
One of my favorite Christmas carols is “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
It’s based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and it starts off all cheery and cozy…
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Part of the way in, the narrator realizes that there is no peace on earth and says:
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth, ” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
I love the next verse best:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
No, there is no peace on earth in many countries this year, and our prayers go out to them. But there is hope (our word from last week!) that there will be, that right will prevail and peace will come!
You can read the original poem “Christmas Bells” here.
And read more about the song here.
There are many versions of the song, but my favorite by far is by Frank Sinatra:
Advent Journal and Reading
Have you downloaded the free Advent journal and reading plan? This week is of course focused on peace.
Advent Practical Preparations
Take some more time out this week to look at what recipes might be good to serve this year. There are some recipe sheets to fill in – they can be your favorite ones, or new ones. Check out the Home Matters Linky posts for LOTS of recipe ideas!
It’s also time to go shopping – for groceries, special things we need….
And finally gifts…. we need to have our gifts almost organized to avoid that last-minute panic!
As we go through this week, let’s think about what peace means to us: to our family, friends, country, and the world. And let’s keep those who are in conflict in our prayers.
Lovely post Joy, and words we definitely need to read! Hope your week is full of happiness. 🙂
How I hope the ‘right will prevail’ and that our world does find peace. It’s a grandiose hope but we can all do our best to work towards it. Thank you for a wonderful and thoughtful post.
Great post-very encouraging to me! I heard the bells is also my fav carol!