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Waiting in Peace

 


Peace descends on us, sometimes slowly;                                                                                                    an awareness, a knowing of the unknown.                                                                                                    It comes in a deep breath,
Light streaming on to an altar
bent knees 
solitude in a shared space
placing our prayers with the silent prayers
of the generations that have gone before
Pebbles ticking one against another
as the water recedes
the rhythm of the tide
the bird lifting on the breeze, calling
white into the light
and light as a feather
Peace touches that place deep inside us that is God                                                                                  And it passes all understanding.

(Petra Shakeshaft)

It is worth reading the poem again, this time more slowly, taking time to sit with a phrase, a word, an image that resonates with you.  It is an invitation to encounter.

And now …perhaps read it one more time.  See what I mean…you notice things each time you read it and digest it.  

 I love her use of the senses and the way that peace comes to us in an almost physical way as a deep breath.  What I particularly noticed is the beautiful way she integrates peace in a quiet church and peace in the natural world.  The peace that comes from praying in a shared space with previous generations can be very profound.  Philip Larkin (an agnostic) observed this in his inimitable way in his poem Church Going where he describes coming into a small, empty rural church while on a cycle ride.

And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,                                                                                                      Brewed God knows how long.                                                                                                                       Hatless, I take off my cycle clips                                                                                                                   in awkward reverence

It is one of the privileges of being a priest that I am often in an empty church and can testify to the power of this peace of the sacred space that churches offer.   

And in nature the poem illustrated how the peace of the ebb and flow of a tide, or a bird floating on a breeze can touch us deeply.  Just this morning whilst on the canal path I saw two herons flying up the canal past me with wings widely outstretched, to be followed on my way back with two beautiful swans in full flight abreast of me.     Such a peace is both soothing and fills us with wonder as we are pulled into the deep rhythms and beauty of nature.

So, this Advent as we learn to wait in peace for the coming of the Prince of Peace, may we discover that ‘peace that passes understanding’.    Peace in the bible is not so much the absence of conflict or uncertainty but in the midst of such things.  This is why Jesus promised his disciples a peace that the world cannot give, or understand. 

It is no accident that the dove became not only the symbol of the Holy Spirit but also for peace, as it is the Spirit that brings such a peace even in very adverse circumstances.  With Brexit, Covid and economic uncertainty I can think of no more relevant time for us to draw deep on such peace as this Advent.

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