Rev. Michelle's Message December 26, 2025

It’s the day after Christmas! On this day, the British celebrate Boxing Day, the Amish celebrate Second Christmas, and the rest of us sort of sit here in a post-holiday daze, looking around at the dirty dishes, the wadded up wrapping paper, the leftover food, and we say, “What just happened?”

Unfortunately, this year I know many of you are sitting in a dark house, still having no power since the widespread outages that occurred a few days ago. I know it must be frustrating and disheartening, and that perhaps your Christmas didn’t look at all like what you had planned. I also know that in true Unity fashion, you are making the best of it, looking for the blessings hidden in the mess, and trying to stay positive and upbeat.

Whatever your Christmas looked like, I invite you today to allow a sense of peace to come in and settle over you. Let it be okay. Let your Christmas be whatever it has been—messy, sad, disappointing…happy, warm, and fun…or some strange mix of it all. After all, Christmas is just a day like any other. We must constantly strive to accept whatever life throws at us, even as we work to co-create with God the life we want. 

As the great philosopher, theologian, Christian mystic, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman famously wrote, the work of Christmas begins the day after: 

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 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,

To make music in the heart. 

And so today, when the presents have all been opened, the greeting cards sent and received, the leftovers put away, we turn our hearts and minds to the work that is always the work—to bring a little more light to this weary world, to be the hands and heart of God on Earth, to demonstrate divine love in action in whatever way we can.

Merry Christmas everyone. May you be safe, may you rest deeply, and may you be at peace.

Christmas Blessings,

Rev. Michelle