Let the peace of Christ control your hearts...and be thankful.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
Merry Christmas! It is hard to believe that we are now in the “Octave of Christmas” and the New Year is quickly approaching. Today’s verse actually comes from the second reading associated with the “Feast of the Holy Family” in the traditional Catholic Mass.
St. Paul is insisting that we “let the peace of Christ control your hearts.” One of the Webster Dictionary definitions for the verb “Control” is “to have power over, or rule”. Imagine for a moment what your life would look like if you let “peace” “rule” your life? How would you feel on a regular basis? How would you treat other people? Moreover, how would you react to other people if you were truly ruled by peace?
When I contemplate being ruled by peace in my life, I think about trusting God to bring about the highest good for my life in any situation. So often, I try to “control” or rule the outcomes of my own life, rather than allowing peace to flow. When this happens I often experience tremendous stress. When I try to control life outcomes, whether it be with my work, finances, or family life, I often experience frustration when things don’t go exactly as planned. If I am in a “control freak” mode, then I can even get very angry when things don’t go my way. That is clearly the opposite of what St. Paul suggested when he instructed us to “let the peace of Christ control your hearts.”
However, on the happy occasions when I do let peace control my heart, rather than insisting that everything be done “my way,” I literally feel better physically and emotionally. By allowing peace to flow in life, I can relax the tension in the body. I can speak to other people in a calm manner, which in turn, enables them to be calm and peaceful. By trusting that God will bring about the highest good for my life, I don’t have to worry about “what will happen if…” scenarios. When peace controls my heart, I know that everything is going to work out fine.
So, how can we get into this peaceful flow? St. Paul gives us a very big clue in the short sentence at the end of this verse: “And be thankful.” That is it—Gratitude. The moment that we are able to be grateful for the present moment, we can experience peace. For example, one of our common problems in modern society is being “stuck in traffic”. We can find ourselves stuck in traffic on streets, highways, and public transportation. We can even be stuck in “walking” traffic, as anyone who has ever tried to see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center knows. In these moments, if we take a second to be thankful about anything in the situation, we can immediately feel a sense of peace begin to flow. For example, if I am stuck in traffic, I think or says prayers of gratitude that I have a safe car, or that I have extra time to listen to a podcast that I like, etc. Or, when I am waiting for my turn to snap a picture of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, I am thankful that I have the day off to even go to NYC to see the tree, or that I even have a family with whom to take pictures by the Tree. In the moments when we start to feel stress creep into our bodies and minds, if we take a second to “be thankful” for anything, then we can come back to a greater sense of peace in our lives.
As we begin this new week, and get ready to celebrate the coming New Year, I encourage us all to find moments to be thankful. Reflect with gratitude on all of the good that you experienced in the past year. Hope with gratitude for all of the good that you plan to happen in this coming new year. As St. Paul tells us, practicing gratitude is the first step to create a heart and life full of peace.