And On Earth Peace

And On Earth Peace.  An artistic competition was sponsored, goes the fable told by Berit Kjos (A Wardrobe from the King, pp. 45-46), because a patron sought but could not find the perfect picture of peace. The submissions were eager yet predictable, still two finalists emerged. “A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.” But the prize went instead to the unexpected and more complicated interpretation of peace. “A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice . . . a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs.” Rather than the absence of turmoil, peace is calm serenity inside though unaffected by the tangle of dangerous complications that swirl outside.

An often-asked question for Christmastime is: Why December 25th? The answers are eager yet predictable. Most scholars insist that the Christians invented a holiday that evolved from and intentionally coexisted with the pagan festival of Saturnalia. The sprawling Roman pantheon of gods included worship of Saturn, who was—among other things—over the winter sowing of the spring crops. In Saturn’s honor, a week of partying crowned the Roman year surrounding the Winter Solstice and Sol Invictus, when the unconquerable sun god, Helios, was reborn (so-called). During this week, disorder was celebrated as wine cellars were emptied, in a topsy-turvy reprieve from the usually strict orderliness of Roman rule. In many Roman households, a King of Mischief was mock-crowned and permitted any sort of raucous behavior. Slaves were jovially served by their masters. A pig would be sacrificed at the temple of Saturn in Rome’s Forum. Even the Emperor would sometimes wear the conical cap of a freed slave (www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia).

But I like to imagine a more sophisticated reason that Christmas took up the December 25th slot on the calendar, though I don’t think anyone really has any solid data as to the actual day Christ was born in Bethlehem. Like the artist’s rendition of peace nestled inside chaos, Christians celebrate how Christ’s peace invades and overcomes from within our most decadent and depraved celebrations of darkness. The juxtaposition of Christmas and Saturnalia, even if it were invented by some cleric in the Dark Ages, was genius in terms of an object lesson. Christmas didn’t attempt to bring Saturnalia to heel but looked for and found a totally different and better peace in Jesus Christ. More than the absence of social restraints, the Prince of Peace incarnates the very presence of God. Christ intentionally came to be with us, as his name Immanuel means. “For he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14, cf. Micah 5:5).