“Now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
1 Thessalonians 3:16
Most of the time, we skip over the beginning and end of the Apostles’ letters to get to the good stuff. Today, taking the time to read the end of the first letter to the Thessalonians I realized what a wonderful feeling Paul conveyed to them and subsequently to us.
The art of letter writing has nearly disappeared, though we all still write texts and emails.
Our closing remarks are nearly always in regards to the physical. “Take care” “Be safe” “be well” and the like. This is especially true since the Pandemic.
The apostles closed with “Peace to you”. This speaks to our psychological well being. Even though they were living in a dangerous and hostile world they told each other to have peace.
Paul always added added “Grace be with you all.”
He was concerned about their salvation and he always included all.
Imagine a place where everyone told each other, “Peace be with you”.
Let’s give it a go. Let me know how adding peace to your daily messages changes how you feel and how you are responded to.
This is one small way we can emulate the Apostles.
Peace to you all.
