Emphasis Preaching Journal

In the 1960s, the hippies were a protest group against the customs and traditions of society. Young adults between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five, they believed that most older adults cared only about making money. Thus, distrust of adults over thirty and ensuing generation gap. Hippies were opposed to the economic disparity between the rich and the poor, the treatment of some minority groups, and the Vietnam War. Characterized by their odd dress, hang-loose philosophy, radical, unorthodox but nonviolent behavior, and long hair, they were essentially advocates of universal love and peace. Peace meaning not simply the absence of violence and war, but a mental attitude, spiritual sensitivity, naturalistic and wholesome disposition toward others and life in general, accepting and respecting others and their right to be.

Although their extremism is not encouraged nor endorsed, we must admit that it made a valid point and got our attention on the subject of peace.

Peace is a pressing issue for our time. We each seek peace --shalom --that is, completeness, wholeness, sound. In Christ is our peace, “In whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple ...; here hostility and divisions are dissolved." All nations, races, and climes find in Christ the halting point of human endeavor, where God's grace and continued care enable each to meet even the hardest experiences with unbroken joy and quiet trust.

--Perry-Daniel