Out on the Hills

A shepherds soliloquy
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I don't suppose I'll be here to see His day arrive
No.. He's still a lad at the moment..
But He's out there.. growing...waiting, getting ready..

Ha! You don't know who I'm talking about do you ?
No.. Well, let me start at the beginning then.

We'd just moved up from the south, as we did every year for the winter.
We'd pasture the sheep in the hill country, just South of Jerusalem.
Near Bethlehem actually .. you know ? where King David came from.

It always made us smile, there we were with sheep near the ancient home of our greatest King, he was a shepherd too - did you know that ? But not like us mind you. No. He had home, family, brothers 'n that. We seem to manage without them mostly..

In fact, it was always a trial for us - those winter months. For most of the year we worked way off on the edge of the wilderness. Just us and the sheep. A simple sort of existence really, with no-one to bother us. But up there near the city.. well thing always got more complicated.

We were.. well ARE never trusted by the folks who live there. They say we're light fingered 'n such, that we get mine and thine mixed up sometimes.... 'n I suppose there -is- some truth in that.. Mind you I always try to return what I borrow.....

And then folk up there are always say we cant be 'real Jews', because we can't get to the synagogue very often, or even to the feasts sometimes. That always stuck in my craw. My father used to tell me how YHWH was Lord of -all- His people, how he loved -all- of them, even when they were far away.... that His eye was always on them and that His great heart of compassion was always tuned towards them ..... I 'spose some have forgotten that... I've got used to being one where my occupation meant you must be irreligious, or whose word was 'a shepherds oath' and a by-word for 'untrustworthy', but for everyone, especially the Pharisees and the rest to say the YHWH couldn't be 'with us'.......well (mutters darkly)

But I'm getting off the point aren't I ?

Yes.. Where were we ?.. back outside Bethlehem. .. yes...
That year was worse than any we'd ever seen. For while we were never welcome in the town, we could at least buy bread, and a skin of wine, but that year we couldn't get anything from anyone ! And why ? Because there wasn't anything left !! The town was overrun with visitors, not just a few, but people from all over Israel. Hundreds of 'em. You couldn't buy bread, or flour, wine was unobtainable, hay or oats for animals was priced well out of our purses. You see, the Romans had organised one of their 'censuses'; anyone whose family was from those parts had returned to Bethlehem and the place was bursting at the seams because of it.

We went into town a couple of times, realised it was wasted effort, and stayed on the hills.

And that is where we were that night.

We'd lit a fire, much like every other night, and we sat around with our backs towards it, eyes towards the flock. I'd fallen asleep, but several others were awake, just in case a local tried to come and 'borrow' a sheep to feed the unexpected visitors. But we weren't expecting any trouble.

And then suddenly, the sky, it was full of light, and then the ground around us was alight too.... not like summer daytime, but like someone had lit all the candles in the world at the same time as was holding up in front of us.. I woke up, of course, we all turned and looked, someone jumped to his feet, but a second later sank down onto his knees. I remember starting to think 'what's the matter with him?...' when I found the same powerful urge come over me too. I was suddenly filled with acute shame, though I couldn't say what for, and a feeling of embarrassment and dirtiness cut right through me, just as though someone had read my minds most repulsive secrets but worse..... And as we lay there, it may have been for seconds or minutes, I felt every part of my body shaking in fear and remorse, if it were possible to feel both things so strongly at the same time.

But strange as it may seem, I kept looking towards the light, and there in front of us now stood a man, but not a man. The light was surrounding him, but not coming from him; it seemed the light was source of our acute discomfort. Then he spoke to us.

“Peace !, don't be afraid”, he said. “I am bringing you good news. News of great joy that will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Then he paused, as if awaiting a response from us. Well my tongue seemed like lead, and my mouth may have moved a bit, but I couldn't get a sound out, and neither did anyone else. I'm sure I saw the visitor's eye brow rise just a little at our complete lack of response, so He continued

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Well if that sounds like a traumatic experience; to be greeted by an Angel on a dark hillside in winter, and to experience just a glimpse of what must have been the Glory of YHWH, ... well worse was to come !. For no sooner had he told us about the sign, than from out of nowhere he was joined by a vast army of what were plainly YHWH's angels. They were dressed as if for battle, but it wasn't their appearance that was the most striking thing, but their song...

For they all began to sing, the most exquisite and beautiful sound I have ever heard. Like human voices, yes, but sweeter and richer, deeper and higher, with notes that pieced you with their perfection, and made you heart feel as if it should burst. But even more wonderful was what they sang, or almost 'proclaimed' defying anyone or anything to challenge its truth :

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.

The words echoed back and forth, and with each restatement, I was willing them to sing that again, and sing that again, tell me that again.

Then they stopped. The song faded to silence and the angelic army swiftly slipped away from sight; last of all to go was our original visitor who was now smiling at us.

Well, we all started talking at once. We had our tongues back, and our legs too ! We were all on our feet, "Let's go to Bethlehem" we said, "and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about". So we did just that, leaving the flock to care for itself, we were rushing and tumbling down the hillside towards the darkened town and the promised Christ. Looking back, I don't know how we thought we'd find him, or how many strangers we'd have to wake until we found 'the one', but it didn't happen like that. We ran to the little square in the centre of the town, paused for breath, and there we noticed a lamplight showing through a half open door. For some reason, we went straight over to the building, paused again for a moment, then swung the door wide a stepped inside.

There wasn't much to see inside. A couple of older ladies, a dog lying on the floor near the door, one or two bits of rough furniture, some sacks of something... and a man, and a young woman, and a feeding trough. They all turned and looked towards. Written over each face was 'what do you want ?', (and I expect we looked an odd sight !). But before anyone could speak from out of the trough came a little cry - that of tiny infant. Immediately, just as on the hillside, all our legs turned to water and we sank to the ground. As the eldest, I began to explain how we'd been visited by and Angel of the Lord, and how he'd told us how 'a saviour who is Christ the Lord' has been born here in this town, and how we were to find him.....

"Please tell us, when was he born ?" I asked,
"Tonight, In the first watch" replied the man.
"that was When the Angel appeared to us......and so What will you call him?"
Now the you girl spoke up. "forgive me for speaking, but, An angel appeared to me also, and to Joseph here", and she smiled at him.
"Yes", Joseph spoke again, "yes, I, ..we, .., We will be naming him Jesus"....

The word, the name, it seemed to hang in the air ...A saviour, A saviour, Jesus, the old name for YHWH saves !

Well to cut a long story short, the town got little rest that night, late though it was, we told everyone who'd listen what had happened, and what YHWH had revealed to us. So it was many hours later that we were back sitting on our hillside with a new dawn braking slowly in the east. Nobody spoke much, until eventually someone said, "You know, I think the world has just changed".