Peace?  Every October 9th, Yoko Ono Lennon, widow of the former Beatle John Lennon, places a full page ad in selected newspapers around the country.  Timed to Lennon's birthday, its message is simple, yet profound:  "Give peace a chance."  Don't we all wish this for the planet?  Don't we all wish that humanity, from its politics to its culture to its international disputes, would strive not for hegemony but for unanimity and concord?
     On the one hand, Lennon's plea seems frighteningly idealistic.  Total global peace is not likely to happen.  On the other hand, his vision, like all meaningful visions, should cause us to ponder its possibilities.  Amidst the horrific displays of conflict and hatred around the world, we do well to step back and consider what the world could be.
     Even if we believe it will never be so.  Like most acts of faith, the hope of absolute peace is grounded in rational assessment of the potential before us.  As the letter to the Hebrews describes it, faith is a rational belief in a point and future we may not now necessarily see.  That's why it's called faith:  it's not all before us today.
     So it is that faith in peace understands its reality, yet it also understands that it is perhaps not for this one.  But this doesn't mean that we should not hold to it.
     God wants for us to believe, not in the circumstances of the moment, but in his ability to make them whole.