“Now the Work of Christmas Begins.”

My favorite Christmas poem is one by Howard Thurman, “Now the Work of Christmas Begins.” 

Thurman's  poem succinctly describes our responsibility to participate actively in the work that began after “the song of the angels” ended and continues until there is “music in the heart” of all people:

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 flocks,
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 the people,
to make music in the heart.[1]

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[1] Thurman, The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations (Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 1985), 23.