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 people,
To make music in the heart.

~ Howard Thurman

As the radio stations return on December 26th to their regularly scheduled shows and the Christmas music is put to bed for another 10 months, as the Christmas trees are left on the curb by the 27th and the decorations and lights come down the first Saturday after Christmas day, even those of us who know better still struggle to remember that Christmas is not a day but a season. But more important than a lesson in the liturgical calendar is the always necessary realization and actualization of the work of Christmas which is embodied in the Christ: be a light for others, come among those in need, be the bearers of peace, incarnate whatever is good, reach out in love, make of your life an offering and make of your offering a song that enlivens others.

This is our vocation together, in little gestures of love and in the daily courage to take notice of the anawim by daring to reach out: to find, to heal, to feed, to release, to rebuild, to bring peace, to make music as our intentional and conscious way of doing our part to help make God’s dream come true on earth as it is in heaven.♦

~ pax good people,
djm