Last night as I was going through my iTunes library, I realized that most of my favorite Christmas songs have to do with peace on earth . . . specifically the lack of it. For starters, there's of course John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," where Yoko Ono and a children's choir sing "War is over if you want it, war is over now" throughout the song. Then there's Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas," where Stevie dreams of a world where "men won't be boys/playing with bombs like kids play with toys." Then there's Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas," which begins with these words:
<blockquote><em>"They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin's birth" </em></blockquote>
Of course my personal favorite is David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth." According to legend, Bowie was supposed to sing "Little Drummer Boy" with Crosby, but asked to sing something else instead, so the producers wrote these new lyrics:
<blockquote><em>"Peace on earth, can it be?
Years from now, perhaps we'll see
See the day of glory
See the day when men of goodwill
Live in peace, live in peace again
Peace on earth, can it be?</em>

<em>Every child must be made aware</em>
<em> Every child must be made to care</em>
<em> Care enough for his fellow man</em>
<em> To give all the love that he can.</em>

<em>I pray my wish will come true</em>
<em> For my child, and your child too.</em>
<em> He'll see the day of glory.</em>
<em> He'll see the day when men of goodwill</em>
<em> Live in peace, live in peace again</em>
<em> Peace on earth, can it be?"</em></blockquote>
Why are so many of my favorite Christmas songs about peace on earth? Maybe it's just the anarcho-pacifist in me pushing my radical agenda onto this sacred holiday season of overspending and gross commercialism. Or maybe, just maybe, it's a little bit more than that.

Like I said <a href="http://provoketive.com/2011/12/03/advent-meditation-returning-to-sister-winter/">a week or so ago</a>, every week during Advent as we light the wreath, we wait for the day when Jesus comes to bring light into the darkness. And as Isaiah prophesied, when the Light of the World comes, he will "teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. . . . He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore" (2:3-4).

I used to think that passage was only referring to the Second Coming, until I noticed the part in verse two when Isaiah says, “He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” To me, that indicates Isaiah was talking about Jesus' first advent, when He came to teach us about the Kingdom of God. So if I'm not mistaken, that means we don’t have to wait around in order to have peace; we can work for peace right now.

So will David Bowie's wish ever come true? Yes, but I don’t think we’ll have perfect peace until Jesus returns, so in that sense we are still waiting. However, I do believe it’s time the Church took Jesus’ teachings about nonviolence seriously, and start working to make the world a more peaceful place (with the help of God, of course).