From the Pastor's Desk.....October, 2006
By Hal Polk, BraceBeagling 
October 04, 2006

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, "If you want peace, seek justice!"

This tie between peace and justice is prevalent among Liberals in our culture and in the Church. The clear implication is that without 'justice' (that is, apart from the resolution of all differences and the eradication of all dividing lines between groups of people) there can be no peace.

This is not the peace that Jesus knew and promises. His peace is that of the man unafraid in the 'valley of the shadow of death' because God is with him in the valley. It is the inner serenity of a Man knowing and dreading the horrors of the cross but able to speak to His friends on the Day on which He would die, "My peace I give unto you"!

The demand for the erasure of all causes of trouble and tension as a condition for peace is the demand of the weak. The expectation of peace in the face of trouble and tension is the hope of the faithful.

May this be the peace that we expect and know in the grace and by the power of the Lord.