"When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and 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 brothers and sisters,
To make music in the heart."
- Howard Thurman, The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations.
"When you realize that each day is not one more day. It's one less. You will start giving more value to the things that truly matter."
"Forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach."
"Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past."
“So God throws open the door of this world—and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a god that wanted such intimacy with us that He came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that His bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death.”
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
“Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God that man might stand before Him as He was created to do, the friend and lover of God Himself.”
“Christmas celebrates the awesome and amazing fact that God is grander, wiser and more mysterious than we could have ever imagined.”