Moving Forward with Hope

We turn another page in our life stories, and the presently unfolding post-pandemic story of our country, as we face the new year. It is still Christmas tide, though, so as we embrace 2024 we fill our hearts with gratitude and hope. A New year is always a time of thoughtful reflection, and with this comes a sense of new beginnings. In this column I wish to share with you a favorite Christmas song that captures the spirit of both moving forward to another year, and continuing to celebrate the gift of Christmas (which we usually already end abruptly on Christmas day!). Here is the song, one from a poem by Howard Thurman, an African-American civil rights leader:

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 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.

May the least, the lost and the last find a place in our hearts as we begin the year!

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“CELEBRATE ENDINGS, FOR THEY PRECEDE NEW BEGINNINGS”

- JONATHAN LOCKWOOD HUIE

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“REMEMBER NOT THE FORMER THINGS, NOR CONSIDER THE THINGS OF OLD. BEHOLD, I AM DOING A NEW THING; NOW IT SPRINGS FORTH”

- ISAIAH 43: 18-19