I volunteered to read one of the Advent readings in December with my faith community. The one I volunteered for was the one for Peace. The Teaching Elder has encouraged me to write one.

What have I done?

I’m struggling to fathom how peace will ever be possible. It feels like we are perpetually on the edge of World War III.

According to the Geneva Academy there are more than 110 armed conflicts happening throughout the world in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Closer to home, in the US, mass shootings have climbed to 684 in 2023, according to Mass Shooting Tracker. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence presents stark and scary statistics about the reality of intimate partner violence. Hate crime statistics for 2022 as reported by The US Department of Justice show over 13,000 reported crimes and over 10,000 known offenders. Reported and known…how many are unreported and unknown?

It’s all so overwhelming to think about. It certainly doesn’t present a picture of hope for peace. It’s enough to cause one to question one’s faith in the Prince of Peace and the God of Love.

How do I reconcile my faith with what’s happening in the world around me?

All the references to peace I find with a cursory search are about experiencing a personal and internal sense of peace in the midst of stress and strife. The only references to a completely peaceful world happen after the second coming of Jesus when the world and all in it are made anew.

In the meantime, we’re called to peaceful action and to be in peaceful relationships, as far as we are able.

This isn’t satisfying for me. I have more work to do.