In this season of Epiphany, after Christmas, may we hear in a new way the words of the late Howard Thurman. Thurman was a mystical, prophetic preacher, active in the civil rights movement and a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thurman studied with Rufus Jones, a and joined the Wider Quaker Fellowship in the 1960s.
Thurman was also dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University of Washington, DC, and later, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University. He was an African-American theologian, educator, and a prolific author. His poem, “The Work of Christmas,” appears with the writings of others in the book Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights. The poem, in this slightly different form below, is from Howard Thurman’s book The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations, published by Friends United Press. The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes 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 the people, To make music in the heart. Grace and peace … --Pastor Pat
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