Princes of PEACE

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful: Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isiah 9:6 (KJV)

It happened one Christmas Eve when I was but a child. My dad surprised my family with a gift. It wasn’t a snowmobile suit for everyone in the family nor was it wrapped in Christmas paper with ribbons and bows. At the time I didn’t even realize that it was a gift. Looking back, I now know gifts can come in all sizes, shapes, colors and even ages. It would be years later before I would understand what the real gift was that Christmas.

His name was Smokey, and he was different than any other person that I had ever met in Allenton. He stuttered when he spoke, that was if he ever spoke. When he did, he repeated his words and made very little eye contact. Smokey helped at the butcher shop and lived on the out skirts of town in the slaughterhouse. At the time I didn’t know that he was homeless, all I knew was he was different!

My mother was the most spiritual person that I have met in my life. But on that Christmas Eve she wasn’t expecting a dirty, poorly dressed, smelly homeless man by the name of Smokey to be part of the program. My dad had a different idea. He had Smokey shower and dressed him up for dinner and sat Smokey down in his recliner to share with us the gifts of Christmas. This surely wasn’t the traditional Christmas that my mother had in mind.

My dad grew up in the 1930s and 1940s with his mother and three sisters. His parents had divorced, and his mother raised the family on a shoestring. I knew very little of my grandfather since he never spent a Christmas with me that I can remember. But what I did remember is that my dad enjoyed feeding people. That very same Christmas Eve he took a pot of soup and sandwiches down to the local pub for the less fortunate. My dad knew that the fastest way to a person’s heart was through their stomach. He loved to cook and was a very generous person that served not only food he served in the army and his community as county supervisor as well.

It says in 2 Corinthians 8:7-10.  Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. 

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 tells us that the point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.  As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; righteousness endures forever.” 

My painting Princes of Peace is named in Honor of my dad and Smokey. Christmas morning after my family had gone to bed, what I envisioned on the mantelpiece was the baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph swaddling the Prince of Peace in their arms. Smokey is seated in dads chair helping my dad cook our favorite meal—hamburgers, french fries and chocolate malts while dad sleeping on the couch in a Santa suit is exhausted after a day of cooking and celebration. Dad was always a trickster and dressed up so he could see people laugh.

I guess at the time what I didn’t see behind that Santa suit was a Prince bringing a little bit of peace to this earth. That people in my life like Smokey can be the Princes and Princesses of peace for Jesus as we celebrate His birth. The gift I saw that Christmas Eve was from God, beautiful and loving as the newborn child bringing everyone peace on Earth through the goodness and light of the baby Jesus.

Then, suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14

For me that Christmas both my dad and Smokey showed me the ways of Jesus and how He instills love and peace in our hearts no matter who we are or what traditions we follow. If we want real peace in our world today all we need to do is keep our eyes on Jesus. To go forth as His royal children, the Princes and Princesses of Peace at Christmas bringing His PEACE to all the Earth.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

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Website – about.me/paulgerman