The Hebrew prophets had a craving for peace.
They called it shalom: the world made whole,
With healing for the body and joy for the soul.
“Light is coming!” said the prophet Isaiah.
“The warrior’s weapons will be fuel for the fire!
Swords into ploughshares. A permanent ceasefire.
Songs of deliverance rising from the peace choir.
For unto us has been born a child,
And in his name all the nations will be reconciled.
They’ll call him Counsellor. Everlasting Father.
Prince of Peace, making all things well.
O come, O come, Immanuel!
Hasten the day when the conflicts cease!
Heal sores, settle scores, put a stop to the wars,
And cover this planet with life and peace!

Centuries later, the peace child is born.
Most people don’t notice: just an elderly priest,
And some random shepherds on a piste in the Middle East.
“Here comes the sun!” says the elderly priest.
“He will guide our feet in the paths of peace!”
A few months later, another old man
Gives thanks for the peace child he holds in his hand.
“I’ve prayed for this moment,” he starts to cry,
“And now that he’s here, I’m done. I can die.”
The random shepherds get more of a fright,
As an angel chorus lights up the night,
But the point is the same. “Glory to God,
And peace on earth, and mercy mild:
God and sinners reconciled through the peace child.
Light the lamps. Strike up the band.
Watch, as his influence spreads through the land,
Confronting anxiety, conflict and sin
With a calm and a peace only heaven can bring.”

Shalom doesn’t come all at once, of course.
You can’t create peace in the world by force,
Or have it crash-land on the earth with a bump.
Instead, it spreads, like flavour in a sauce,
Or a piece of yeast bringing rise to a lump.
So the peace child starts with the trickiest part:
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.
He dies to reconcile God and humanity,
Taking our sin and killing our hostility.
He brings about peace between nations and tribes,
Bridging their divisions and healing their divides.
He puts back together the human soul,
As fractured bodies and minds are made whole.
And he readies the world for a day of release
When death turns to life, and war becomes peace.
O come, O come, Immanuel,
And bring shalom to Israel,
And make this whole world … well.