The Work of Christmas

While the Hermes family is still in the midst of giving thanks for the generosity of Epworth in the Christmas season (including personal thanks for the gift from the congregation) we are also looking forward to the possibilities of the coming new year. Visions of what God can be doing in Kalispell through and with us are overwhelming in the most positive and exciting sense. It is hard knowing that we have to balance the beginning of our year with looking at some serious cuts in our spending habits to bring ourselves into line with the tithes and offerings that we have had committed but as long as we keep the work of Christmas before us I am sure we will find incredible joy in the coming year.


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 the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

-- Howard Thurman, adapted