“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”  (Luke 2:13-14)  Is peace really possible?

People are what you think they are.  If you choose to believe a family member or an acquaintance is a self-centered jerk, you will find yourself related to or associating with a self-centered jerk.  If you choose to believe they are an angel, you will find yourself relating to one of the heavenly host.  If you define an adversary as fundamentally flawed, they will remain your adversary.  The first step to peace is to extend good will toward all human kind; to choose to see people as you would like them to be, rather than as you may hold them now in your heart and mind when you experience them in their weak moments.

I find myself often acting contrary to what I know to be correct for what I want most in the moment.  That means I am too short with those who merit more meekness.  It means I sleep longer and then ride ruder to work in the morning.  It means I eat things that are intensely delicious, but not immensely nutritious.  I exercise my appetite more often than my abdominals.  I often act more like a loaf than the Bread of Life (John 6:35).  Yet I also occasionally “do good,” serve others, exercise patience, eat right, get up before my alarm goes off, and drive courteously.

Am I a jerk who occasionally defies my nasty nature, or someone who occasionally deserts my divine disposition and destiny?  We get to decide how we define ourselves and others, but we must choose wisely.  The choice to characterize our companions and the world will also form the foundation for our people-perspective and world-view.  Such a choice forms the footings for peace… or its alternative.

100 years ago from last evening marks the 100 year anniversary of the famous World War I Christmas truce on Flanders Fields in Belgium.  For a brief moment, bitter enemies chose to see each other differently.

(Click here to see a brief Mormon Newsroom story about the video above.)  The result was peace.  The result IS peace.  We find peace as we repent of our weak moments and reconcile our most valuable relationships.

The most valuable gift given to another is our repentance and reconciliation.  Such is more often a process rather than a singular event.  It requires diligent dialogue, persistent patience, and regular restraint.  Consider the following elements of such a process:

• Remember our eternal essence: We are children of God.  Resist the temptation to define people by our weaker mortal moments.
• Choose to see ourselves and others as we may become or as children of God.
• Own the fact that we currently see someone in less than positive and peaceful terms. Apologize for doing so.
• Express a desire to see ourselves and others in different terms. Give others an opportunity to know and respond to those positive terms.  Those terms are negotiated, not dictated.  Such is the nature of reconciliation.
• Develop positive and unifying alliances rather than divisive, adversarial support for our original conflictual position. Instead of gossiping about others, ask helpful people to help you see others and yourself as you would like to see.

Good will toward men (and women), including ourselves, promotes peace on earth.  Peace glorifies God, for we are His children.  Such good will, peace, and glory are things money can’t buy.