I’d Like a Another Peace

 

We frequently hear or use the phrase “piece of the pie,” but, isn’t it more fitting to say that “pie is a piece of piece”…pie-ce...see what I mean?  I like pie.  There have been very few pies that I have not held dear to my heart.  The top two exceptions to my love for pie would be mincemeat and lemon meringue.  I know right…you can understand the mincemeat…but the lemon meringue? You all think I’m crazy.  Well, truth be told I had a traumatic experience with a lemon meringue pie as  child at my grandmother’s house during thanksgiving one year.    After the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and gravy, (of which I ate only the turkey and bread), out came the pie.  My mother came from a family of 9 children including herself, and so when it came to dessert you had to be quick and get what you fancied or you would be out of luck sucking on a peppermint drop you found under the couch, covered in cat hair for dessert.

I remember my grandmother cutting these amazing looking pies in the kitchen.  She had several pumpkin pies, cherry pies, and lemon meringue pies.  My eyes fixed on this pie…with all of the fluffy white creamy goodness piled high on top of who cared what was below.  That was the pie I wanted…and being grandma’s favorite…(don’t tell my cousins…or brothers and sister for that matter…and if they say anything different they are wrong…after all she never called any of them Ryan…it was only me she called that…so I must be her favorite).  Grandma cut me a nice big slab…I took it into the other room…I sat down…stuck my fork into this tall, thick, fluffy pie…my first bite landed right back where it came from.  I hated it!  “You call that whipped cream?”...”no”…”it’s called meringue.”  The saddest part of the story is I missed my window.  All of the remaining pies were gone…I was left with a broken candy cane…I never liked candy canes much after that either.

Holidays were hardly a peaceful time at grandma’s house.  It’s not that there was a lot of conflict…though it probably existed as it does in every home, but I was just too young and cared only about presents and pie.  The lack of peace came from the vast number of people…the noise…the laughter.

However, despite the noise…I don’t ever recall an inner turmoil at grandma’s house.  She was an amazing woman, who left you feeling confident and comfortable…that all was well with the world.  Maybe it had to do with my age more than grandma…or maybe both.

Now I am older, and sometimes I wonder did my peace die with grandma? Because, both seem to be absent.  When we read the Christmas story, we come to this part where the Angel encounter the shepherds.  The Angel says to the shepherds…”I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord…Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The world was far from at peace during this volatile time in Jewish and Roman history.  Likewise our world is far from at peace.  We have country fighting country, country’s fighting themselves; we have republicans and democrats fighting...on and on it goes.  So, where can we find peace?  There is only one place.  We can find peace in the arms of a God who loves us enough to send his Son to die for us…because he “favors” us so much.  That…is where you can find peace this Christmas.