Experience Together

Christmas All Year Around

After all of the commercialism of Christmas has faded away, we are reminded of the quote attributed to Howard Thurman, Baptist minister and author:

Peace - Love Cannot WaitWhen the song of the angels is still,
when the star in the sky is gone,

when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flock,

then 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.

To what do Thurman’s words call us who claim to be people of peace? Who are the lost we need to find, the broken we need to heal?

Maybe it’s someone who has no one to speak for her or stand up for him.
Maybe it’s a relationship that needs to be restored or made right.

How does feeding the hungry go beyond donating to the food shelf?

Maybe it’s about a voice in deciding who has the right to control the food supply
or to dictate what can be grown, or who owns the water and the air.

Bringing peace among the people has a lot to do with working for justice for people. It has a lot to do with being peace – speaking, acting and thinking nonviolently. Gift Luminary Display 2013And making music in the heart comes about when we are at peace with ourselves, when we believe that we are doing what we can to bring peace on Earth, good will among all.

May this new year provide us with awareness of the opportunities and the good will to carry on the daily work of Christmas.

~ Sister Jeanne Wingenter, SSND, a member of the justice, peace and integrity of creation
committee of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province
~ Peace graphic adapted from a design by Sister Gen Cassani, SSND

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