Currents of Faith: Open and Unfolding Reflections

"And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."
Luke 2:8
Sometimes we know the most about God, when we know the least about God. Imagine you are a shepherd, alone on a dark and starlit night, keeping watch over your sheep. All is calm and all is bright. You feel small but included in a larger whole that you can never grasp but always trust. This larger whole is not a star among the stars; and yet all the stars are enveloped in its sky-like embrace. Suddenly an angel appears and says that the something beautiful has been revealed in a small child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. You make your way to Bethlehem to see this child, and when you look into his eyes, you see your own reflection. You realize that you were present in the baby even before you arrived, and he in you, too. You suspect that when the baby grows up, he may feel called to help people understand this, to understand just how connected we all are. Eventually you make your way back home. You are standing again in the field, keeping watch over your flock. The night is calm and bright. A friend walks up to you and ask where you’ve been. You say: "I was in Bethlehem.” He asks: "What did you see?” You say: "I saw the world’s best hope.” He asked what it looked like. You say: "It looks like you and me.” ~ Jay McDaniel