to kill an olive tree

Sunday December 8^th, Isaiah 11: Something new is coming.  Something humanity has not yet experienced.  A green Shoot will sprout from the old stump we thought was long dead.  The life-giving Spirit of God will cover the land and the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, the Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and awe-of-God, will be our joy and delight.  It is almost impossible to kill an olive tree.  It is like rhubarb for most Alaskans in that respect.  Just when you thought it was dead, up from the roots comes something new, something fresh and alive.  This second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Peace.  Humanity has tried to kill the concept.  We talk about it longingly, but not really tried it in any sustained manner.  If half of the military budgets from the nations of the world, or even, just from our nation, were to be spent on building up, would there be a need for the other half of the budget to be spent on military war machines?  But then there is not enough profit in peace. God’s plan from the beginning of time is for all the children created in the image of God to live in peace.  So far, a few have found ways of making money through war, and getting power (which is another way of saying making money) through war, and have been able to talk the rest of the many into sacrificing their children’s lives for the profit of a few, and with a little patriotism thrown in, they to do so.  But God’s plan is for peace, it will happen.  After all the millennia of trying to kill what is left of the notion of peace, God will have God’s way and a green shoot will sprout from the old stump of peace.