The Lord's Peace is not the peace that the world gives, because the world does not understand peace.
Peace is not the absence of pain and anxiety and grief. You can suffer and grieve and still possess the inner peace that comes from trusting God to do what is best for you and your loved ones.
Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the positive presence of collaborative work for justice and mercy for all God's children. There is no peace without justice.
Peace is not about getting your way. Peace is Mary's leap of risking faith and her surrender to God's plan, not hers: "Let it be done unto me according to Your Word."
Peace is not about being liked by everyone. If you speak and act for the Truth, putting on the mind and heart of Christ, then, says Jesus "if the world hates you, realize that it hated me first." The world hates anyone who speaks and acts for the powerless, the dispossessed, the sinner, and the enemy. If you stay with your "own kind," take care of only your "own kind," you will never experience the peace of being persecuted for following the Lord.
As you kneel before the Manger this Christmas, may your heart be tranquil; may you be filled with the Lord's Peace which surpasses all understanding, which can ease our souls in the midst of all inner and outer storms. His Love is enough for us, always enough for us. His Love brought us into this world; one day His Love will bring us Home to Him.
May you not only experience our Lord's Peace. May you go one step further and ask Him to teach you to be a true Peace Maker. By being an example of trustful faith when you ache with grief. By being an example of a worker for justice when the people around you scream out hatred and distrust. By being an example of spontaneous risk as you step forward to meet the Lord's challenges in your life.
Listen to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as He prays for you: "Peace I leave with you, my Peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." (John 14:27.)