Tony Nolan

Where on earth is the peace?

Thursday, December 01, 2011 | Tony Nolan

Peace on earth is often the last thing you experience while enduring extended family issues during the Holidays. Here are three thoughts I have kept close to my heart to help keep the cheer level high.

1. It is what it is: The problem was here before the holidays and it will be here after it. I don't need to try and look for things to magically change during the holidays, that's crazy pressure. I don't let the issues become a bigger bleep on my radar than they were before the Christmas lights were hung.  

2. Enjoy the good moments: Unresolved bad moments tend to try and hijack the joy of the good moments. Is'nt it absurd how a small thought about a wrong someone has committed against you can such the happiness out of good moment you are enjoying? I can not and will not let that happen. I must milk every good moment for what it has to offer. I taste them, breathe them in, and absorb them. They are gifts from God and He wants me to enjoy them. 

3. Bless those who hurt you: I give generously to those who have offended me. I heap hot coals of love and kindness on their heads with total confidence that it is a good excercise for my heart. I let these days be a sort of spiritual P90X for my heart. Sweating off the bitterness with acts of blessings. It’s what God did 2000 years ago to a world that was set out to kill him on a cross. Perhaps that’s what it means to live out the Gospel.

Merry Christmas!

Tony Nolan