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| (I will fear no evil - based on work of Verna Brady) |
Psalm 46:1-3 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult."
As I set out on this journey through Advent I knew this would be a theological time (how could it be otherwise: 'Theo' in Greek is "God" and the 'logy' part comes to us from the Greek λέγω "I say". Together we are seeking what God says). I had however thought to avoid theologians. Today (day nine) I have failed - today it seems important to hear an echo from the "cloud of witness." St. Augustine lived in the 4th Century AD. I personally have trouble grasping much of what his great mind seeks to communicate - but his notion of peace rings clear as we approach this Christmas set amidst our present darkness.
St. Augustine wrote "Only love of the immutable brings tranquility." To me this makes sense. Mutable things are fleeting changeable things. Love grounded upon mutable things leads to fear. Why? Because those things can be lost! As we fear loss we loose peace. Fear is the antithesis of peace.
God alone is immutable. He is unchanging and eternal. This makes God unique; which in turn makes hearing God (Theology) essential for us! God alone cannot be taken from us in the ebbs and flows of life and death. Love misdirected, Augustine concludes, leads away from peace. Loving God leads us to the place of peace that cannot be disturbed.
How does this relate to us? We are surrounded by pluralist, secular and capitalist ideologies; we are bombarded with health and wealth ideas that fail to bring peace. Why? Because the foundations of these ideas (the material and physical) are mutable. An example: we tell our children a good paying job will bring peace of mind and comfort. Too often it brings them stress and worry as they take their place in the so-called 'rat-race'. As I write this piece, CBC is reporting suicides in Alberta, Canada are up 30% as the oil industry collapses and high paying jobs are lost - where is the lasting peace in those careers? These fleeting things are in truth our idols - things that constantly distract us from living for God. Is it any wonder we find ourselves in darkness, in the shadow of events like San Bernardino, Paris, Colorado, Chattanooga, Sandy Hook, Ottawa, Boston and the World Trade Center. Last night President Obama sought to comfort the American people by offering up destruction, surging military strength, human resilience and American power as the antidote to their fear. He offered war to bring peace? He offered a wolf in sheep's clothing! He offered an ideology not Theology.
But hear the good news of Advent. If we seek God (The Father, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit) with all our hearts, all our minds, all that we are and all that we have, then we will know peace. So we lift our heads and we gaze beyond the trials of this world and we seek only the face of God. As we surrender all that is mutable, we receive The Immutable - we receive our Triune God - we live in the peace of the Christ of Christmas.
1 Peter 3:14-15 "But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord."
