Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and I need to catch up on these posts. I am writing as I currently sit in a hospital waiting room. I’m here on a visit for a congregational member about to go into surgery.

It might seem to be a weird place to start reflecting about peace and freedom, but I think it makes sense. There’s a sense of peace with the patient and in the waiting room. This procedure has been long hoped for. If all goes well it may even provide a new sense of freedom and mobility. No matter what happens though there is an assurance of “the peace that surpasses all understanding” and a sense of freedom that that promise provides.

Allison is preparing for her first Christmas in a collar. Last night we drove around and looked at lights in our neighborhood and neighboring neighborhoods. We also practiced our duet for Christmas Eve. And yesterday we also both wrote drafts of sermons for this coming weekend. Even with all this,  and with much still to do,  there’s peace.

Whether or not we are ready God is already present with us. God is here at the hospital. No matter what happens we will celebrate God being born into the world. That’s freeing to know that it’s not up to us.

I hope you are feeling that sense of freedom and peace in your own life too.

Image Credit: “May Peace Flow Like a River,” by Vonda Drees, (21 June 2015).