During Advent we traditionally hear the texts from prophets that have been used, for example, to promote the arrival of Jesus, born in Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”– Micah 5:2
The “Wise Men” also perceived the place of Bethlehem as necessary for such a birth (Matthew 2). Other prophecies about what kind of kingdom would occur have been attributed to Isaiah. In Isaiah 9:2-7 is the famous “unto us a child is born…” passage, and the names for him as “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father”, and “Prince of Peace”.
Isaiah 11:1-9 picks up on this image of a reign of peace with “the peaceable kingdom” passages. These have inspired artists for centuries, including the outrageous and improbable scenes of wolf with lamb, leopard with goat, calf next to lion, cow cozying up to bear…. A “little child will lead them” (v.6), the infant “will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest” (v.8). All “getting along” rather well!
We don’t have any of those animals at home; we do have cat and dog, and, as these pictures show, it’s not quite the peaceable kingdom at our house. Nonetheless, the imagination of such a rule or reign fits in well with what this season is supposed to bring about. In fact, one does well to get familiar with the writings of scholar Walter Brueggeman to have a beginning grasp about all this. 
It serves us well enough now to simply say that the reign of the “Prince of Peace” has yet to fully take hold. Yet my wonderings, amidst all the anything-but-peaceful world we live in today, is to ponder what a horribly ruined world we would have if it weren’t for people of “good will”, spanning the centuries, motivated by the teachings and example of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. South African believer Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and most recently Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gwobee from Liberia serve as examples of determinately following the peaceful lead of their Lord, against horrific odds and life-threatening opposition.
Our own day-to-day situations are seldom quite so despairing as those faced by (Anglican) Bishop Tutu and (Lutheran) Ms. Gwobee. Should they be that way? As faithful followers of Christ here in America where matters of faith and its applications are an option, an “elective” activity for most of us–well, that is certainly a fair queston to ask. Here’s my “short” answer to that: the truth is that injustice knows no national or personal boundary. You and I, then, have our own situations, big and small, where an approach by peace, with mercy, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion–not violence or indifference – is a call to usher in the kind of peace that Jesus was born for, lived into, and went to the cross and accomplished for this whole world–cats and dogs included. Such is an Advent hope with some challenging “grit” placed before us; live into that kind of call.