When
the song of the angels is stilled,
when
the star in the sky is gone,
when
the kings are home,
when
the shepherds are back with their flock,
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.
First encountered that quotation on an album of folk songs by Gordon Bok, Ed Trickett and Ann Mayo Muir. It always hits home every time I see it. And on the radio today, an announcer who is a self-declared introvert says that even though he sincerely tries to follow Jesus, he has a tendency to be oblivious to other people and he was caught up short by another quote (no source given) "You can't serve others if you don't see them." It is indeed the "work of Christmas" to not let ourselves be blinded by the Star and all the Christmas lights on the tree, but to let them illuminate the faces of those who surround us, that we may recognize them as our siblings and see the needs that may lie deeper than what is displayed on the surface.
ReplyDeleteOne of the tests used by Jews to know when the dawn has advanced enough to declare it a new day is not just whether you can distinguish a black thread from a white thread but whether you can recgnize the face of a friend. May we be given enough light to see friendship in every face. And may we have, as Rabbi Akiva recommended, "Shir kol yom"--a song for every day!
That is a great observation. I mentioned something to that effect in my homily last weekend. The second paragraph is also powerful. We are often to one another - especially to our friends.
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