Christmas Day is Near

Christmas Day is Near

This Advent, I’ve been reflective and grateful. There have been a few disruptions and disappointments in recent days but, I still have joy.

As the COVID -19 pandemic continues to challenge how we celebrate Christmas with family and friends, I remain hopeful we will find ways to continue our traditions to share the peace, hope, joy and love of the season with each other. I hope you feel the same.

In the coming year, there will be opportunities to put the gifts of Christmas into action. We will be called to be the in light in a dark place, to serve where there is a need and to love beyond borders. When that time comes, may we recall the feelings of this season and share the peace, hope, joy and love with our world that desperately needs it.

The words of Howard Thurman capture this call in his poem, The Work of Christmas:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

-        Howard Thurman

Merry Christmas