On Sunday, Talitha preached a sermon on baptism in honor of “Baptism of our Lord Sunday,” a little known church festival that follows epiphany each year. Each January, when I hear the story of Jesus’ baptism, I know that Christmas is finally over. It’s a bittersweet annual moment made somewhat easier at Montclair Presbyterian Church by the presence of the Pacific Boychoir, who generally give us a final Yuletide serenade on the second Sunday in January.
But I hope the mystery, joy, hope, and peace of Christmas will abide all the year round that that each day, Jesus will be born anew in the Bethlehem of each heart. To that end, I’ll leave you with a poem that may be familiar to you: “When the Song of the Angels is Stilled,” by the pastor, theologian and civil rights hero, 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 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 people,
To make music in the heart.
Peace, Ben