Gospel: Luke 10: 21-24
Hidden among the many stories of war and bloodshed in the Old Testament is the promise of peace about which Isaiah so often speaks. It is hidden and forgotten until the coming of Jesus who time and again rejects appeals to the sword and bloodshed, instead choosing to suffer and die rather than subject others to such. The merest child understands and appreciates peace, they long for peace in a world obsessed by war.
By contrast the learned and clever will forever convince us of the next war, and there is always a next war. There is never a war they cannot justify, and so the message of peace is set aside for the weapons of war. The prince of peace is reshaped into the warrior and crusader. The learned and clever are master spin-doctors indeed.
Advent is the time to reclaim the promise of peace in our world, beginning in our own hearts through repentance of our sins and then extending outward to the entire world. It is once again time to put away the pretensions of the learned and clever - the lust for power, wealth, influence, and self-interest - and take up the dreams of childhood again - a world of peace and cooperation, of wonder, appreciation, and love.
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