All is calm. All is bright.
We don’t have many Silent Nights around our house right now. They are interrupted with shuffling feet, Willie Nelson playlists, and diaper pulls during nighttime feedings that make it hard to determine whether it is night or day; but in the midst of these noises, there is a peace that falls over our house. It’s not a silent peace, but a noisy peace.
It’s a peace filled with tiny squeaks of a three week old sleeping and growing. It’s a peace filled with snoring from parents or another as rest finally comes quickly over them. It’s a peace filled with puppy yips as they settle down now that the baby is asleep. It’s a noisy peace that takes a lot of work to achieve.
And I just wonder in the midst of our peace if it’s not an indication that the peace we all pray will settle over our country needs to be reimagined. Maybe the peace we need to strive towards is a noisy peace filled with discussion, even heated discussion. Maybe the peace we need isn’t represented in the lovely, melodic songs of the season. Maybe the peace we need isn’t found in a silent night, but in voices joining loudly together to ask for a change.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me, my voice rising loudly against injustice and brokenness.