When the shepherds are back to their flock

Reflection

 
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.

Howard Thurman

Amidst the bustle of buying gifts for friends and family, the steady flow of parties, the lights, hot cocoa, Christmas music playing on every radio and in every store, tinsel and wreaths and candy canes, it’s difficult to recall the humility of Christ’s actual birth.

 No country paused its work to celebrate his birth. No one put up a Christmas tree or bought a new dress for the occasion. If not for the angels and a star guiding a few surprising guests, Jesus would have been born totally anonymously in a dark and dung-scented manger.

But as Thurman points out, Jesus did not come for all the fanfare. The real work of Christmas is not spiced cider but healing. Jesus came into the world to restore humanity to loving relationship with God, to “find the lost, to heal the broken,” to give us abundant life.

 That is, of course, why we celebrate. Jesus’ incarnation is one of the most joyous events in history! But this season, take time, not just to celebrate, but also to join in “the work of Christmas” by giving something of yourself for the life of others. This Christmas, take some time away from the feast to join in Jesus’ constant, life-saving mission by giving blood.

Questions

1.     How is the beauty and joy of Christmas enhanced by acts of service?
2.     1 out of every 87 mothers require a blood transfusion after giving birth? What do you think about honoring Christ’s birth and his mother by giving blood?
3.     How does giving blood for the life of strangers fit into the Christmas story