When Christmas begins

Howard Thurman    (Fair Use)

Many people think that Christmas begins on December 25^th, accompanied by feasts and merriment.

Not so Howard Thurman.  He sensed that the work of Christmas truly begins when “shepherds are back with their flock” and even “the song of angels is stilled.”

Just what does this work entail?  The poet writes:  To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, To make music in the heart.

And Thurman should know.  His “theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists… including Martin Luther King, Jr.”  He also co-founded “the first major interracial, interdenominational church in the United States.”

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Thurman