THE PUBLIC MIND: LET'S INITIATE AN ERA PEACE ON EARTH DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, READER URGES

To the Editor:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to me on whom his favor rests."

With the arrival of the Christmas season we are inundated with wishes of well-being and cheer. However, the hopes for peace to all men seems to be shattered with the realities of daily life as the holidays come to a close. Bitterness and strife not only among nations but also within families seem to quickly resurface.

Does this have to be? Let us take one more look at the scripture most often quoted as a basis of our aspirations concerning divine harmony in the human family. Herein lies the secret of that most ardently sought-after yet hard to attain commodity, world peace.

The heralding angels tell us to give glory to God in the highest. If we don't honor God and his Word we're doomed to being enslaved to our own passions and vices. Selfishness and greed remain man's primary motives. No matter how much he has, he will always want more; even to the point of killing for it. Yet this is only the outworking of an inner struggle which takes place daily. This conflict is man's nature warring against God.

The prophet Isaiah said that the wicked "are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. `There is no peace,' says my God, `for the wicked.'" In spite of the United Nations' and diverse governments' attempts to construct a counterfeit, true peace will not be realized until man has peace with God.

Jesus, the true reason for the Christmas celebration, is himself our peace, who "has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." It is the justification by faith in his atoning work on the cross which gives us peace with God and our fellow man.

Let's initiate an era of genuine peace on earth by giving glory to God.

Fred W. Poston

Cape Girardeau

P.S. Thank you so much for the "In The Spirit" supplement in Tuesday's paper. I enjoyed reading about the down-to-earth Christianity being lived by those in the articles. Their testimonies are instructional as to how true faith in Jesus effects every area of our lives and helps us overcome obstacles we all face.

We are quite fortunate to have a local paper which publishes a well-presented account of the Christian faith.