There are some people who...
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There are some people who simply seem to bring "peace" with them wherever they go. It is hard to define what there is about such a "peace-person." It is simply true that such a person seems to have a deep inner sense of "having it together," as we say today -- an inner security that is almost unshakable. Wherever that person is, she carries it with her, and it almost seems to "rub off" on those around. Moments with such a person are to be treasured.
There are, likewise, some places that seem to have "peace" in them, giving anyone who enters that place a sense of well-being and wholeness. Again it is hard to define what there is about such a "peace-place." But one senses a feeling of well-being from the moment one enters such a door, as though there were a "presence" about the place that makes it a place where one can "collect one's self again."
These are mere "glimpses" into what it must have been like to be with Jesus. In the lesson the disciples are unsure of themselves, uncertain about what to make of the reports they are getting about the empty tomb and Jesus being seen alive again. Into the midst of this "jittery" bunch, Jesus comes with the word, "Peace be with you," and calm descends upon the room. It is not simply the absence of noise or the absence of trouble, but it is something more positive, the sense that life is "on track" again, that what has been shaken in them is now settled, solid, and secure. Jesus, the peace of God, is with them and has spoken his word of peace to them.
And he instructs them to take this word of peace as "peace-persons" to all who will receive it (him): "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven."
There are, likewise, some places that seem to have "peace" in them, giving anyone who enters that place a sense of well-being and wholeness. Again it is hard to define what there is about such a "peace-place." But one senses a feeling of well-being from the moment one enters such a door, as though there were a "presence" about the place that makes it a place where one can "collect one's self again."
These are mere "glimpses" into what it must have been like to be with Jesus. In the lesson the disciples are unsure of themselves, uncertain about what to make of the reports they are getting about the empty tomb and Jesus being seen alive again. Into the midst of this "jittery" bunch, Jesus comes with the word, "Peace be with you," and calm descends upon the room. It is not simply the absence of noise or the absence of trouble, but it is something more positive, the sense that life is "on track" again, that what has been shaken in them is now settled, solid, and secure. Jesus, the peace of God, is with them and has spoken his word of peace to them.
And he instructs them to take this word of peace as "peace-persons" to all who will receive it (him): "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven."
