Psalm 37:37
Watch the blameless and observe the upright, 
for the person of peace will have a future. (CSB)

Keep your eye on the healthy soul, 
scrutinize the straight life; 
There’s a future in strenuous wholeness. (MSG)

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The “benefits” of my physical therapy appointment two days ago are still bearing fruit. The lunges followed by leg lifts and curls with increasing measures of resistance speak to me with every step. The bear crawl stance, where a dumbbell is shifted from one hand to another, also reminds me of its effects each time I bend, twist, and lift. 

Someone said yesterday that PT doesn’t stand for Physical Therapy but for Physical Torture. I am inclined to agree. 

Strenuous wholeness is The Message paraphrase’s way of describing the person of peace. Peace arrives less often from conflicts resolved but with conflicts avoided. It is the disposition of hearts and minds settled on God’s ever-present reality, his loving purpose, and how he patiently shapes all things as they should be, can be, and will be by his amazing grace. 

Persons of peace have settled into peaceful wholeness before God deploys them as peacemakers. We cannot transfer peace if it does not reside within us. 

The focus of Advent this week is peace. Peace on earth, yes. Peace on earthlings, indeed. Peace will never arrive nor rule the day if men, women, and children do not embody this work of God’s amazing grace in our souls. 

John Wesley liked to ask, “How is it with your soul?” The Christmas focus on Peace on Earth is at its root about the condition of our souls. 

How is it with your soul?

Peace is possible. Scrutinize the straight life. Live it. Teach it. Train your little ones in it. The future belongs to the peaceful souls who refuse to allow conflict to deter them from their pathway of deepening, abiding relationship with the Prince of Peace. 

Physical therapy eventually makes us feel better. The strenuous wholeness of blameless and upright lives bears peace everywhere it is found and placed. 

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I will lean into a life of strenuous wholeness and radiating peace. 

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Our Father, grow me in the grace of peace. Make me a peaceful soul. Make me a peacemaker. Give me a life of strenuous wholeness. Use me to bear your peace everywhere you deploy me. Amen.