...they will remember war no more......

perhaps this is our deepest hope....a peace so secure that our children will not only live in a time without war, but actually remember war no more.  The prophet Isaiah holds this vision before the eyes of the people of Israel thousands of years ago....a vision still powerful today in modern America.

It will be God's peace; a time when our hard labor will be engaged in the work of living: plowing and seeding, feeding and sheltering, laughing and loving.  No more will we give life to children who will offered up as sacrifices on the altar of war.  We will turn our swords into plowshares: instruments of life and not death.  Our spears will become pruning hooks, trimming our vines to produce grapes each year rather than slaying those called 'enemy.'

All will be life; life will be all.  We will know nothing else.  This is peace....and it is God's promise to all people, all nations in the gift of Jesus.

'The Lord's mountain will be the highest of mountains' Isaiah tells us.  The Lord will reign above all other powers, all kings and all nations.  It will be a place where God makes the judgments - judgments that lead to peace and prosperity, to life and not death.  This is a kingdom where swords and spears are no longer needed to make war but to nurture life for all.

This is the kingdom that comes to us in Jesus - this is the peace that passes all understanding.  This is the peace we long for, and so together we pray "Come Lord Jesus."