He will judge between the nations  and will settle disputes for many peoples.  They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. - Isaiah 2:4, NIV

The words above are from one of today's lectionary readings for the season of Advent. In reading these words that describe how the Messiah will come as the Prince of Peace, I am reminded of how much we need peace in our lives and our world today. I just read an article in The Wall Street Journal about how a Muslim in Syria was working hard to save a Jewish synagogue near Damascus from being destroyed by the war. For centuries it has been a religious site venerated by three major religions. But soon it may become a causality of war, along with the many individuals.

With the recent riots, violence, and abusive behavior on some of our college campuses, we need a kind of peace in which human beings treat each other as persons made in the image of God. So I invite you this Advent and Christmas to pray for peace. Pray that the God, who has promised one day, in passages like the one above from Isaiah, to bring peace to this world, would continue to work now. And I also pray that you would ask God how you can work for peace in your life right now. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Ask God what specific thing you can do today to make peace. Maybe it will be to find a way to bring healing to a broken relationship. Maybe it will be choosing to stay connected to others when you would rather go your own way. Maybe it will be to support someone who is working for peace in another part of the world. Pray for and work for the peace that can only come through Jesus Christ - the Prince of Peace.

Prayer for Today 
Lord, let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me -this day, right now. Amen.