Occasionally I'll send Pandora on a mission to fetch some inspirational music while I write. This morning, in the spirit of the season, I sent Pandora on a Christmas music quest. It returned with a beautiful rendition of Handel's Messiah, like this one. The melody and message washed over me. Then, abruptly, a phrase seized my mind while I was editing a post:
"Prince of Peace"
I froze mid-sentence as these words reached out and drew me in. I was instantly whisked away from this insanely angry and violent world with its widespread disregard for life. I was pulled into a new world. A world where peace, woven into the very fabric of life and breathed into every living creature, takes up full residence. Its charge so compelling it warrants a Prince. A Prince devoted to carrying its standard, a torch lit with the flame of peace. A Prince, whose authority is sanctioned not by his birthright, but by the freewill consensus of every soul on Earth.
I sat with this for a long time, absorbing Handel's Messiah over and over again. I entered and dwelt in this imagined realm. I felt the overwhelming relief of living in a world that universally embraces a peace that everyone freely chooses to sustain. A world where every being has touched their torch to that of the Prince, or to a flame descended from the Prince's torch.
Now, fully back from that experience, I am left wondering if this could ever be realized. Will there ever be a time when anger, out of sheer exhaustion, will stop swinging its club in the dark? Can its fear be calmed long enough to notice the flicker peeking through a crack in the inky void? Will it journey toward the fire to discover its warmth and light? Will it touch the flame and turn its club into a torch to reside in that peace? Will it offer it freely to others until, one-by-one, in rolling waves of flames, not a single club, not one unlit torch remains? Every life bound together through this spontaneous and voluntary act. Driven by love. Driven to share this gift of the Prince of Peace.
Post-it Note
January 30, 2016
I authored this post on December 7, 2015. Then today, when I decided to post it and I typed this date in this "Post-it Note" to explain why "now," I recalled that December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day. That fact didn't strike me when I originally wrote this post. In fact, I had no idea even ten minutes ago. Amazing as that is, given the inspired topic, it's not the reason for this note.
As BeYourselfBlog was coming together, my original plan was to make it public over Christmas 2015 since I had a stretch of quiet time to prepare. I intended to lead with this post since it was in the spirit of the season. Then, when I decided to wait until the New Year to go public, I decided one "seasonal" post was enough (If Only In Our Dreams), and I put this post on hold until next Christmas. I was sticking with that plan until things recently got "weird." Over the past week, iTunes has been spontaneously opening on my Mac, playing the "feature" of this post, Handel's Messiah. Each time, I've been either working on the site or drafting posts. I had no idea where the music was coming from the first time it happened. When I discovered it was iTunes, I opened it, paused the music and closed the application. The fifth incident was about an hour ago. So I decided to take the hint. If Spirit is that determined, I am going to listen, trust and act. Hence the post. Apparently "Peace" can't wait. - Carl