Prineville Presbyterian Church

 

As Christians, we take our faith understandings from the New Testament. The New Testament begins with Jesus’ birth and covers the next several generations that followed His life, death, and resurrection. Our faith also shares a lot of history with our Jewish friends, history that comes from that time before Jesus.

If there is one word to know from our Jewish friends, it’s shalom. The short definition is peace. Quite often we think of peace as the absence of war. While this is a good place to start, shalom goes much further. It includes completeness, soundness, and welfare. The Anchor Bible Dictionary makes the point that “shalom is a positive idea;” it’s something to work toward.

Much like the work that went into getting our Peace Pole erected. The pole was offered to PPC as a gift and the Session accepted it. But then…what to do with it?

Realizing a 2^nd sidewalk would be very useful and also create a corner led to forming a patio in that newly created corner. That patio would be a terrific place for the Peace Pole. When we submitted the grant for this it all seemed pretty straightforward.

When we received the grant then came the reality that to actually make this happen involved even more thought, plus sweat and planning and re-considering (like sloping and benches and the hand-rail).

After all of this though, we do have something beautiful to behold. Imagine my delight following a Faith Based Network meeting here at PPC as 4 guests all stopped, commented on the beautiful brick patio, and took a couple of moments to look at the pole. It made an impression.

The work of shalom can be very involved. Perhaps this is why the prophet Isaiah, in foretelling the birth of Jesus, had so many ways to describe Jesus as our Prince of Peace. I like this from The Voice Bible translation:

“Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams,
    a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift.
And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great.
    The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
    He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
    Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace.”
The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace."
~Isaiah 9:6 The Voice

We are the only faith community in Crook County to erect a Peace Pole. It declares our intention to be people at one with God, one with neighbor, and one with ourselves – all because of Jesus Christ.

We’ll dedicate the Peace Pole at the close of worship Sunday October 30^th. I hope you join us.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike