Peace and Love

I recently attended a production of "Love" -- the Grammy-winning musical adaptation of Beatles' music with the intriguing staging of Cirque du Soleil. Though slow-starting (IMO), it eventually played frenetic homage to the Beatles and some events of the era when the music was composed. And there was a Volkswagen Beetle! (Always a good sign in my book.) Close to the end, as the musical approached a raucous crescendo with "Revolution," huge words appear on one wall -- "Peace and Love." Then the words fragment and various letters begin to cascade down like rain. Art.
The show was overall amazing and worth attending (IMO again). When I saw those words though, I thought of Jesus as a much earlier proclaimer of "Peace and Love," especially I guess because of the texts from the Gospel of John (not Lennon) that we have been reading during Holy Week and Easter: the Great Love Commandment (John 13: 34,35), Jesus' immediate post-Easter offering of Peace (John 20: 19ff.), and this Sunday's text "This is my commandment, that you love one another ...." (John 15:12).
The Beatles once famously/infamously claimed to be more popular than Jesus. I suppose their music is famous indeed, but the message of Peace and Love from God in Christ preceded and (IMO) will outlast those four lads from Liverpool, The Beatles.
But we can all share the hope that "Peace and Love" will rain down on our world.