This world is so broken. My heart aches as I watch it unfold, and at times it feels overwhelming. I can only take in so much before it feels like my body might completely shut down. When you long for peace that never quite seems to come, when injustice, misunderstanding, and constant struggle feel like too much, you begin to ache for something more.
I know I’m not alone in this longing for peace, real peace. People are searching for it, hoping for something that feels just out of reach, looking for a sign of hope. I think that’s why the monks walking through our area recently stirred such a response. So many people went to see them and were deeply moved. I even took a yoga class where the teacher cried multiple times while talking about it.
But my cynical side couldn’t help wondering, what is the point of it all? How is walking going to produce peace? How is the world truly going to change because of it, beyond giving people a brief, warm, fuzzy feeling? I know people were impacted, but that isn’t peace. At least, not lasting peace. Still, it reveals something important: how deeply our world is craving and searching for it. And if I’m honest, I am too.
So my word for this year is Shalom.
It is an ancient Hebrew word commonly translated as “peace,” but its deeper, more complete meaning is wholeness, completeness, soundness, and welfare. Derived from the root shaleim (to be complete or whole), it describes a state where nothing is broken, missing, or lacking. It goes beyond the absence of conflict and points to true harmony, restoration, and safety.
That sounds like heaven to me, and truly the only place it will be fully realized, in the new heaven and new earth, where God will make all things whole and complete, and where we will live in perfect safety and harmony.
Until then, I seek Yahweh daily, to abide in Him and in His peace that passes all understanding, even in this broken world.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:7
Shalom, Shalom.
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