Giving Peace a Chance

The Christmas season has barely begun, but I seem to constantly be receiving reminders that one of the ideals represented by this holiday is PEACE. For Christians, Christmas is about the birth of Christ, who is referred to in the Bible as the Prince of Peace and who preached a gospel of peace throughout his life. All season long, people of all faiths have discussions, watch movies, sing songs and take part in events with the premise of peace.

Last night I watched the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center in New York. I heard Christmas hymns like "Joy to the World", "O Come All Ye Faithful", and "O Holy Night". I also heard The Beatles' "So This is Christmas" and an Enya song about angels singing that, "everything is right." All of these songs echoed of a peace that seems to have gone missing in our world today. Case in point, we are currently in a war in Iraq where a civil war among it's people threatens to erupt at any moment. Racial and religious cleansing has been the cause of millions of murders and other violent acts in Africa. Isreal and the Palestinians have increased the violence in their age-old struggle. While I heard those Christmas songs of peace sung last night, I couldn't keep from shedding a tear as I thought of how far from peace we truly are.

Then, there are the petty things in life that ring so much of selfishness and hate that you're left wondering what happened to the real meaning of Christmas. People running around like mad spending tons of money on other people who already have so much. People stealing Christmas lawn decorations, toys from stores, purses, other people's dogs. People suing eachother for how they choose to recognize the holiday (i.e. hanging peace-sign wreaths, saying the word "Christmas" in the workplace). We really seem to have lost our perspective.

With so much craziness in the world this holiday (actually it's nothing new, but just seems more emphasized to me somehow), I've decided to focus on something worthwhile. This Christmas I'm going to try my best to show a little more love to those around me, to care for those who need a little extra attention, to say "thank you" to those who contribute to my life and try to do something beneficial for them in return. Just thinking of doing these things puts me more in the true holiday spirit. I hope I can put my own selfishness aside long enough to accomplish this goal. I wonder what kind of a change there would be throughout the world if everyone gave peace, love and caring a chance?