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The ground was cold and moist where I was laying. Two
of my sheep had been spooked and ran away. I could barely make out
one of them in the small ravine below me. I was on my stomach
reaching with my staff, trying to hook it around the animal’s body.
After several tries, I was successful. I carefully pulled it up
from the ravine as it made sounds of fear. It seemed to be alright,
just frightened. This was the female, and I was still missing a
lamb. A small lamb with a black spot on it’s face. Several of the
other shepherds helped me look for it, but they had their hands
full with the large flock and it was now dark. This kind of thing
happened sometimes, but I was determined to find it.
I pulled my cloak up around my neck as the chilly night breeze
started to pick up. It was a moonless night and dark except for the
usual stars and one particularly bright one that we first noticed
several nights before. It was the first star out every night now
and it set over the nearby town to the west. As the night wore on,
we continued to gather our flock together in a sheepfold; tonight
it would be a nearby cave. We would sleep there with them as we
always did. We had been in this pasture long enough and tomorrow it
would be time to move on.
After the flock had been herded into the cave and counted, I
brought some of the other shepherds with me to continue looking for
the missing lamb. Three men stayed behind to protect the animals.
We spread out and begun to walk, making clicking sounds and calling
out for the lamb. The search had gone on for a while with no luck
and we decided to start back. I finally gave it up for lost.
As we were walking back to the cave, I suddenly noticed a man that
appeared to be standing on something tall in front of us. He was
dressed in a brilliant white garment of some type. And just as
sudden, the whole area around him and us became bathed in bright,
radiant light. I heard a shout of fright. We instinctively held up
our staffs against this person, several of the men started to run
away. The shepherd in front of me picked up a stone, but I grabbed
his arm. I began to sweat and shake with fear; I could not
comprehend what was happening. It was then that I noticed the man
was not standing on anything at all!
As he faced us, he held up his arms and spoke in a voice that
seemed to be coming from everywhere. “Fear not, for behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which
is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
Almost instantly the man was surrounded by others
that were clothed in white also. Some of them were above him in the
air and as we watched, hundreds more came to be, stretching out
across the sky and as far up as we could see. Light seemed to be
coming from them as if they were on fire. I could not make out the
shape of their bodies, or see their faces clearly, but they were
beautiful somehow. We then heard a sort of musical chorus coming
from them that said “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men!”
This continued from the multitude and they slowly began to rise and
fade away into the dark night sky. They and the man were soon completely
gone and it was dark again except for the stars. There was silence.
I was lying on my back, still shaking. The other men were
completely silent. I lied there on the cold ground staring up at
the sky. After some time we began to gather ourselves. I got up and
brushed myself off and looked around at the other men in the faint
glow of the stars and noticed that they all had a grin on their
faces; some had tears in their eyes. We suddenly started laughing
out loud. I felt a joy like I had never known. We realized that for
whatever reason we had just been given the honor of spreading good
news like the world had never known before; us, just poor shepherds
in a field.
We started out in the opposite direction of the cave, toward the
nearby town. No longer were we thinking about the sheep. We walked,
we ran, we sometimes climbed on each other’s backs, all the while
shouting and singing silly made up songs. Ever once in a while we
would stop to catch our breaths and talk about the people in the
sky. Ahead of us was the little town which was now directly under
the unusual, bright star.
When we arrived in the town, there were many people milling about who
were in town to be counted by the officials of Rome. We didn’t
understand why a Child such as this would be born and laid in a
manger, but we desperately started looking in stables and in small
barns behind the dwellings. We started shouting and asking people
if they knew of a baby being born somewhere. We finally came to a
small stable on the edge of town where some people were gathered
just inside and donkeys tied at the front. We made our way in and
saw some cows and sheep lying about.
There before us was a young couple, a man standing next to a manger
and a young woman sitting in a bed of hay. The stable was bathed in
the warm glow of torches. It was then that I noticed the hair and
beards of the men I was with were streaked with white. The man
looked at me and quietly greeted us. I could wait no longer. I
slowly moved toward the manger, the others fell in behind me. I
looked into the manger at a newborn baby who was wrapped in cloth.
I suddenly felt my dirtiness and wanted to back away, but couldn’t.
I stood and stared. The Baby Boy made no sound and seemed to be at
peace. I finally forced myself to step back and let the others see.
I felt strangely warm, but I trembled.
I quietly began to tell the couple about the heavenly visit in the
fields. I told them about the message we received, and the other
shepherds joined in with excitement. We could not contain our joy.
They were amazed by our story. The young woman looked at us but
said nothing. She had a peaceful, knowing look on her face, her
eyes were moist.
I knelt down and took one more look at the Baby Boy. It was time to
go and spread the word to others, anyone who would listen. As I
arose to leave I noticed a sheep lying near the manger, a small one
with a black spot on it’s face.
I had found the Lamb.
Steven Walls
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