Advent Guide: The Wonder of ChristmasSample

Peace? Sure, No Problem. Then Life Happens.

The assignment: a 300-word devotional on Peace for the Buckner Advent Guide.

No sweat. I write a 1,000-word editorial every week.

And then, life happened. And it wasn't peaceful. The work and the worries and the weeds preoccupied the moments and days. My mind's so full of everything needing to be done that it's hard to find a mental moment of peace.

Perhaps you set out at the beginning of Advent to read each day's devotion, not missing a single day. No sweat. How hard could it be?

And then, life happened. Peaceful doesn't quite describe it. You're meeting yourself coming and going, and when you're not busy trying to keep all the plates spinning, you're fitfully sleeping. Somehow, you've managed a spare moment to read this page.

The assignment: Give birth to a child. Oh, and the child will not have a human father, and yes, we know your community does not stand for that sort of thing.

No sweat? Hardly.

I'm not one who prays to Mary, but I would like to ask her, "How'd you do it?"

"How'd I follow through with the pregnancy and all of that?"

"No. Well, yeah, I guess that, too. But no, I mean, how did you tell the Angel: 'I am the Lord's servant; may it be done to me according to your word?' How'd you do that?"

Whatever her answer would be, I am certain it would sound like Peace.

How do I know? Because Peace and its Prince are all I know that can carry a person through such troubled waters.

Eric Black is the Executive Director, Publisher, and Editor of the Baptist Standard. He previously served as a Professor, Pastor, and Collegiate Missionary.