Peace  amid  R eA L i Ty

Quite a while back, Jean and I spent several days in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked in the sandy desert landscape adorned with vegetation significantly different from what we are used to seeing in the southeastern United States. One of those distinctly different plants was Cylindropuntia bigelovii:

Fortunately, this plant has a common name: teddy bear cholla. But don’t be deceived! Jean and I can both testify from personal and painful experience that this member of the cactus family is far removed from the cute, cuddly stuffed animal its name alludes to. Every one of its needle-sharp spines has microscopic, backward-pointing barbs designed to inflict the maximum amount of agony and make you remember and rue the day you made contact with them.

Fast forward to the more recent past when Jean and I visited Tucson Botanical Gardens in Arizona. Soon after entering the grounds, we came upon a nesting female mourning dove and her two chicks:

And their nest was deep inside a teddy bear cholla! These birds were millimeters away from danger. And yet, there was not one iota of panic or even discomfort in their demeanor.

The reality is that we also abide in a world where risk is all around us. Person-against-person violence and inclement weather occur with frightening frequency. The proliferation of different diseases and ailments seems to be outnumbered only by the drugs and supplements hawked to cure them, which in turn, are exponentially outnumbered by their potential side effects. Civil and international conflicts are now so common that they are less frequently “front page” news.

It would be easy to think the time in which Jesus lived was much simpler than ours. But I believe society in those days had its own set of family issues, culture versus faith dilemmas, and numerous other risks, threats, and stresses. Jesus Christ was at the Last Supper, facing betrayal and death on a Roman cross, when he spoke these words to his disciples in the first century. But these words of encouragement also apply to all those who follow Jesus, whatever the century.

I give you peace,
the kind of peace only I can give.
It isn’t like the peace the world can give.
So, don’t be worried or afraid.

– John 14:27 (Contemporary English Version)

I confess I still worry from time to time. However, I no longer wonder why doves have long been considered symbols of peace.