Peace In The Messiah and Animorphs

    It’s Christmas time and that means Christmas music. Of particular interest is the phrase “Peace on Earth, good will towards men,” found originally in Luke’s account of the angelic head of the Lord’s birth. This past weekend, I was privileged to sing in a community choir the first part of Handel’s "Messiah" plus the "Hallelujah Chorus." One of the choral pieces is “Glory to God” which includes the phrase, “And peace on earth, goodwill towards men.” Similarly, we sing this phrase in both the songs, “Far, far away on Judea’s plain” and in “I heard the bells on Christmas Day.” Appropriately, Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah 9:6 which is sung about in “For unto us a son is given” in "The Messiah." 

    I recently re-read and studied President Oaks' October 2024 general conference talk titled, "Following Christ." One of the messages he reiterated in this talk was the following teaching of Jesus Christ, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." He then followed with the following quote, "Peacemakers! How it would change personal relationships if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all their communications."        This brings to mind what Elder Stevenson taught about in his October 2025 General Conference talk titled, "Blessed are the Peacemakers." In his address, Elder Stevenson taught about three levels or places where we can be peacemakers. First, being a peacemaker in our heart, second being a peacemaker in our home, and third being a peacemaker in our community. All of these communications and teachings and songs about peace seem to be very appropriately timed as peace does not always seem to be the reigning feeling among people right now. 

    In our recent podcast that Spencer and I recorded we spoke about Animorphs book #19, The Departure, Cassie deals with an internal struggle and desire to no longer fight the Yeerks. She even leaves the Animorphs team for a while. But when she decides to help a little girl who happens to be a human controller, she ends up talking with and seeking for peace with the yeerk, Aftran. This interaction and peaceful desire flies in the face of the entire Animorphs series up to this point. The Yeerks are essentially fighting against everybody and trying to take over the galaxy and anyone they can find to use as hosts. Their only means of "peace" is through control. As such, the Adalites, Animorphs, and any one resisting the Yeerks is doing so via violence, not an ideal scenario for peace. Yet, Cassie and Aftran accomplish this seemingly impossible task and it's on an individual basis. Yes, there are negotiations on government levels that often bring resolution and peace to large scale wars, but the peace between individuals can be just as impactful. 

    I hope we can find peace this Christmas this year and I know that as we focus on the Savior, the prince of peace, we will find the peace that we need.