3rd Monday of Advent

3rd week in Advent -- Monday                           Luke 2:15-20

                                   The Shepherds

If the Wise Men were the wealthy, world travelers of their day, the Shepherds lived at the other end of the economic spectrum.  They were poor, uneducated, simple people.  They kept their flocks, protected them from the wild animals.  They fed their sheep, found them shelter in storms, searched the wilderness for water holes, slept near them at night.

One night, the unexpected and unimaginable happened:  bright lights, angels, heavenly anthems, divine message.  They hurried to Bethlehem, and what did they find?  More sheep ... and some cows and a donkey ... a woman and a man ... and a newborn baby.

Suddenly, they knew -- they KNEW -- that they were the first human witnesses to God=s greatest Gift.  And what did they do?  They went out and told their story.  They didn=t thump Bibles, harangue on street corners, buy time on TV.  They simply told other people the Story -- God has come to us, Immanuel!

Good News is hard to keep quiet.

O God:

We so often think that we have to do GREAT things for you, or we should do nothing at all.  Help us to remember to be faithful in the little things in life, like sharing your love and Good News with those around us; in Jesus= name we pray.  Amen.