Peace: It’s Complicated
It is the second week of Advent.
Peace. We sang about peace all the time at church camp when I was in junior high and high school. As a camp counselor the singing tradition was passed on, but somewhere in the mid to late 1990’s it ceased.
I’ve got peace like a river
African-American Spiritual in the public domain. Click here to listen.
I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul
Down in my soul.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
John Lennon. “Give Peace a Chance.” (Apple Records) 1969. Click here to listen.
Now the valley cried with anger
Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The Original Caste, One Tin Soldier, “One Tin Soldier” (Bell Records) 1969. Click here to listen.
Mount your horses
Draw your swords
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
‘Peace on Earth’ was all it said
Unfortunately, the overplay of “One Tin Soldier” at camps, youth Sundays, and countless other places defanged the power of that lyrical story.
And outside of summer camp the Eagles sang about peace in relationship.
And I got a peaceful easy feeling.
Jack Tempchin. Eagles, “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” (Asylum Records) 1972. Click here to listen.
And I know you won’t let me down
‘Cause I’m already standing on the ground.
Where have all the peace songs gone? Here’s a list from Zing Instruments.
One of the identities that Christianity has hung on Jesus is the “Prince of Peace”. History is littered with more violence than peace in the name of Jesus or the name of God. That is something that can be understood, maybe even something to sympathize with, but not reconciled. Sacrificial atonement and substitutionary atonement are beliefs that come with theological guarantees unlike the messy work of peace in the here and now.
Peace is my responsibility. It’s a walk in the forest. It’s a protest for justice and equality. It’s the sound of the ocean breaking on the beach. It’s my companion cuddled up to me on the couch. Bob Marley is right. People have to get ready for peace and redemption song. It’s doing what is right because it is right. I can help create moments of stillness for the majesty of peace to be experienced in a noisy, cluttered, and self sorted 21st century.
Peace is something more than an absence of violence, but that would be a good start. Maybe Jimi Hendrix is right, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
Peace is our responsibility. May it be so.