(Dr. Roger Hatfield is no stranger to missions. He previously served as CEO and Co-founder of Future Leadership Foundation and was the Global Aging Missions Specialist for the The Baptist Home Foundation. He attends First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, MO.)
On the shortcut down P-81 to M-1 from Pruzhany through the beautiful Belarusian forest, I asked my 16-yar-old driver/translator, and by now my friend, to pull over. What a magnificent scene to embrace with no other cars on a snow-packed road, birches laden with snow dripping slowly from an early morning sun with a slight breeze. Total quiet engulfed the moment. There could have been nothing more peaceful.
It was not always so here, you see. In these stunning forests that stretch for miles, murder and destruction occurred that took thousands of Belarusian lives in the early 1940’s as Germans marched through Belarus to engage the Russians during World War II. I recommend the 2008 film, Defiance, to set the stage.
So, if peace is not the “absence of conflict” as the classical Greeks thought, then what is it? The New Testament writers knew shalom as “peace,” and a synonym to shalom that meant to “bring rest and quiet, a deep commitment to leading a fulfilling and intensely meaningful life.”
Saying “peace” to someone as a greeting or departing blessing does not convey the richest meaning, which is, “I wish for you the total fulfillment of Christ living in you, and the richest measure of the blessing of God, who pours into you daily to offer you a most generous life." (Whew!)
So, peace to you, dear brothers and sisters, during this Advent season.
