This from Chris: https://thisfragiletent.com
Saviour.
Prince of Peace.
It may be a surprise to some that these titles - which we know so well as religious descriptors of Jesus Christ that have been sung through generations - were borrowed from an earlier historical figure, known first as the EmperorAugustus.
In the year 34 BCE, Augustus defeated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium, and this Victory ushered in a period known as the Pax Romana, defined this way in Wikipedia:
...The Pax Romana (Latin for 'Roman peace') is a roughly 200-year-long timespan of Roman history which is identified as a period and as a golden age of increased as well as sustained Roman imperialism, relative …
… as commencing from the accession of Augustus, founder of the Roman principate, in 27 BC and concluding in 180 AD with the death of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the "Five Good Emperors".
In other words, the first advent of Jesus happened right in the middle of the Roman peace, which was really no peace at all. Not for those oppressed by an expansionist unequal empire.
It was in to this world that the Prince of Peace arrived as total contrast to the Prince of Peace.
I have been thinking about how my lifetime has been lived in peace. Sure, just as during Pax Romana, there have been wars and skirmishes happened all the time away somewhere else, but these cost me almost nothing. However, just as during the Pax Romana, a different kind of peacelessness has been gathering. It might be understood as the end of the Pax Britannica and the beginning of the Pax Americana.
In total contrast to the Pax Christi.
This Advent, we need the upside-down principles of the empire of the Prince of Peace to disturb us still.
After war came peace
But after peace came profit
And after profit came wealth
And after wealth came inequality
And after inequality came accumulation
And after accumulation many were left with nothing
And with nothing there is no peace at all
After the war came peace
But after peace came empire
And after empire came corporation
And after corporation came globalisation
And after globalisation came exploitation
And after exploitation came exhaustion
And those who are exhausted feel no peace
After the war came peace
But after the peace came aspiration
And after aspiration came property
And after property came debt
And after debt came foreclosure
And after foreclosure came homelessness
And without a home, there is no peace
After the war came peace
But after the peace came consumption
And after consumption came more consumption
And consumption became the only thing that counted
And after consumption came obsolescence
And after obsolescence came more consumption
For without consumption, there is no peace.
After the war came peace
But after peace we lost our unity
And for unity we need an enemy
And because of the enemy we need a leader
And great leaders need a great army
And a great army needs a war
And with war there is no peace.
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