Eternal life is not some great surprise that comes unannounced at the end of our existence in time; it is, rather, the full revelation of what we have been and have lived all along.
-Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

What would it look like to live fully in this very moment,
not to ruminate on the past or try to leap ahead to the future,
but to remain in the now
even if just for a moment?

So often, in Christian teaching, I feel like we jump ahead to the Kingdom to Come, but we seem to forget that Jesus also taught the Kingdom was here in our midst and breaking through into our world at all times. We yearn for a day when we can see Jesus face to face, but how often do we forget that the Holy Spirit is also here at our side already? The Kingdom may be still to come, but we can also glimpse the Kingdom in one another. We can see God at work in the world when we look with eyes of peace.

Few times of year embody this spirit quite like Advent. On the one hand, we look toward the arrival of the Christ child, but on the other, we celebrate God already in our midst. We look toward a life eternal, but we also remember we are living the earliest days of that life here and now in this place.

And I wonder if peace —real peace— is the ability to sit with this tension.
The here and now and the not quite yet.
The present moment and the still to come.

This time of year invites us to pause,
to breathe,
and to be at peace,
to remember that good things are on the horizon,
but that there is also good right now in this time.

So as we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent,
as we light the candle of peace,
pause and take in the peace of this moment.
Listen to the world around you.
Listen to the world within you.
Listen to the world still to come.
And know that God is here.