Despite The Warehouse,
Kmart and sundry other stores having jumped the gun for the Christmas rush, the
church doesn’t start considering Christmas until the beginning of Advent, which
starts Sunday week.
The four weeks of Advent
tend to mean slightly different things to different sectors of the Christian
church. For me though, Advent is a kind of spiritual waiting room where we can
reorient ourselves to God presence.
Advent comes from the
Latin “adventus” which means “coming” or “arrival”. So during the four weeks
leading to Christmas we have the opportunity to reflect on what the arrival of
Christ means.
Historically, “peace”
has been the fulcrum around which people view Christmas. Most of us will
remember stories like Snoopy’s Christmas complete with the Bloody Red Baron.
Perhaps you saw the film, Joyeux Noel that captured a brief moment of peace in
the trenches of World War I. They are brief samples of the peaceful themes that
Christmas conjures.
Yet somehow it’s hard to
grasp the concept of peace as little more than wishful thinking when we
consider Zimbabwe, Gaza, Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s illusive when you’ve been
hit personally by financial crisis with the promise of more to come. So what is
it?
Peace is a noun. It
names something – “well being”. Yet in the great religions of the world it is
not something we wish for, it is something we bestow on others and receive in
return.
Many years ago my wife
and travelled through the Middle East when the Gulf war broke out. Despite
this, everywhere we went we constantly tripped over a greeting that we never
here at home: the Arabic custom of greeting people with a blessing of peace -
As-Salāmu `Alaykum - Peace Be Upon You.
The response was a return blessing - wa `Aleykum As-Salaam - and upon
you be peace. As a colleague in the Emirates has pointed out, “it is not only
rich culturally but it is full of amazing potential”.
It’s too easy to pass
these words off as mere customs that contain little more than glib sentiments. It
seems to me that the hope of Salaam or Peace whispers quietly in everyone’s
hearts, demanding personal reflection.
Years ago I studied the
San Salvadorean Arch Bishop, Oscar Romero, who spoke on behalf of the oppressed
poor. In lifting the veil on human rights abuses he was eventually assassinated
while celebrating Eucharist with his people. In his book “The Violence of Love”
Romero unpacks peace in the midst of violence:
“Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of
cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the
generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism.
Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty. In it each one has a place in
this beautiful family…
”
The sentiments of an
Arabic greeting are the sentiments of all human hearts and the bestowed hope of
people with true faith.
As-Salāmu `Alaykum,
Peace Be Upon You.
Digby Wilkinson © 2008
Some parts of this article are inspired by Dr. Geoff Pounds blogspot from the Emirates