In 1955, a song was written by a husband and wife songwriting team and then introduced to 180 teenagers at a workshop in the California mountains.

Decades later, I’d grow up listening to this song sung as hymn in Catholic Mass. And now, it comes to my mind as I pray. 

I pray for peace. I pray for peace in my city. It’s a desperate whisper to God. Something that seems too wild to be tamed.

“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

This is the lyric that comes to mind as I pray. If I’m honest, I’m dismayed; it feels ordinary and small. But then suddenly I’m emboldened. This can be my choice. This is something I can do. It’s not the answer to everything, but it is the answer to something. 

I find it strange to be living in this time in history. I find myself caught between two worlds – mundane and historic.

The mundane feels up close – birthday parties, school carlines, weekly conference meetings. And the historic is here too, but a bit further away. It feels disorienting to be living the mundane during times that will surely be written about in history books. 

There’s chaos in the world. There’s hate and evil. 

But here’s where I find solid ground: There doesn’t need to chaos in our homes. 

“Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

That’s what I can do. It’s not a cure-all. It’s not the answer to Heaven on Earth. But it’s our assignment. We can carry peace into our homes. We can carry it with us as we go. It’s seems small and too simple, but this is where we must start. It’s what I can offer everyone around me. It’s what I can offer myself. Why not start here? Why not make this a daily practice?

It doesn’t mean pretend. It doesn’t mean forget. It doesn’t mean not engage in what is going on around us. But it does mean to carry a presence of peace, when we come and when we go. 

My flesh strives to do and accomplish. The flesh wants proof and peace seems a bit too passive. But the work of the heart is done in different ways. When the world looks like chaos and our future is undetermined, there’s a better way. When peace is the furthest thing from surrounding us, we have the opportunity to be it. 

Peace isn’t always easy to find. It’s not simple to be or to keep. 

But peace should be sought after and hunted for. 

Where do we find it? It’s behind the anger. It boldly comes from extinguishing fear. It comes after calming the anxiety. And taming the hurt in our hearts. 

So let it begin with us. Let us pick up the responsibility of bringing peace into our lives – our hearts, our homes, and our cities. Let’s hunt for peace and then fight to keep it. 

What should we do about the chaos? Know that we don’t need to live here. And if we are living here, there’s a way to move out! When ‘out-there’ swirls with confusion, we can rest knowing that the Lord loves His people. It doesn’t mean pretend. It doesn’t mean forget. But it does mean doing the hard work of trading the hurt, anger, and fear for the peace of God.