Article December 24, 1990 Issue

Peace on earth? Goodwill toward men!

Myrtle Smyth

Peace on earth appears to be the greatest need in the world today. There is not a person, a family, an organization, or a nation that is not crying out for peace. Perhaps the reason we are not experiencing this peace is that we are not carrying out the condition that goes with it!

You may recall in studying the works of Christ Jesus that he often put conditions on his teachings and actions. For instance, when he healed people, he would say: "Stretch forth thine hand." "Stand forth." "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." In his preaching, too, Jesus made demands, especially in his beautiful Sermon on the Mount. Remember how he said, "Love your enemies ...; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven"? He also said, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

With this in mind we can consider what the Master demanded and then ask ourselves what demands his teachings make on each of us today. We need to fulfill these requirements in order to gain the peace the angels spoke of at Jesus' birth when they declared, "On earth peace, good will toward men." Goodwill toward men—how important that condition is! Indeed, there will never be peace on earth until we fulfill this obligation. Dictionaries define goodwill as "positive friendliness ... kindly feeling, benevolence, cheerful consent, heartiness, readiness." These are the conditions we need to fulfill in order to find a sense of heavenly peace.

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