O night divine...

O Holy Night....that song always gets to me. The simplicity of waiting for something big and miraculous to happen....unsure of what...but still, waiting.

I was commissioned to do animal care duty at a small farm last night and again early this morning. Chickens could be heard squawking in the barn as I made my walk down there. As I entered, I noticed that the chill of early morning was also evident within the barn. Mary gave birth in the chill of a simple stable, not like the birthing centers we have today! Giving the goats their hay, I was reminded of the hay that Jesus' tiny body was laid upon soon after His birth. Scratchy, dusty but with a comforting pungent aroma. The goats seemed happy as they began munching, while the chickens seemed content as they sat in their boxes. Onward, back out of  the barn and up the hill again to the driveway I took in the scene around me. A sky that was slowly turning pink from the rising sun in the east, all the while a full moon was making its descent in the west, ice covering the pond below. All was calm. All was bright.

 The earth held its breath, waiting...waiting...

As I drove back into my small town, life was beginning. Cars could be seen everywhere getting ready for the dawn of a new day: it s Christmas Eve! Did they feel it within their hearts, this expectant waiting, this surging sense of Hope that, once more, we hail the birth of a King? For me, every Christmas is all about the coming of a babe in the most dark of conditions; humble, poor and unsure, yet also full of hope of the promises set forth by God! Filled with faith, we look to the One who can lead us from the darkness and into the Light.

Merry Christmas! May God bless us, every one!