You are never going to believe what happened to me just these last few days.
Sorry, I suppose I should introduce myself; my name is Shermy and I’m a shepherd. I’m one of many shepherds who keep our flocks by night (and day for that matter) just outside of town. Shepherding is a lonely job, a lot of the time it is just me and my sheep. Even when I get a day off, and get to go into town to get my supplies, the towns folk keep their distance. Nobody wants to fraternize with a shepherd.
I mean, I do understand, if I have to be honest, we do smell a little bit. But to just ignore us and treat us as some of the lowest people in society, I think that is a bit much. I mean King David before he was king, he was a shepherd, and look where he got to. I’ve always thought of King David as a hero of mine, being able to rise to King from such a lowly starting place. I grant you he had some family issues once he was King, but who doesn’t?
Now where was I … oh right my last few days. There I was just watching my flock by night, seated on the ground (I mean we are in a field, there aren’t many options on where to sit). On this night I was lucky and some of my shepherd friends happened to be abiding in the same field with me. There we were playing rock, slingshot, pruning shears, (if you haven’t played before, rock smashes pruning shears, pruning shears cut slingshot and slingshot throws rock), when all of a sudden it got super bright. I turned to my friend and said, “What is that light? It cannot be dawn?” It turned out it was an angel. Then it was two, then three, I think a group of angels is called a multitude, you know like a group of sheep is a flock.
So anyway I ran for it. I mean wolves? Fine. Mountain lions? Fine. But I’m not used to bright lights in the middle of the night. While I was running this feeling of peace came over me, and in my mind I heard the words, “Do not be afraid.” And funny enough I wasn’t anymore. I stopped running and came back to find all the other shepherds had scampered as well, yet the sheep had all stayed, they must have been fast asleep. I was the only one there with this multitude of angles. I once again saw in my head a story that started to play out. A woman was pregnant, and giving birth in of all places a stable. Being a shepherd, I recognized the stable right away.
The story keeps playing in my head, and I see that this child is going to be great. Like King David sort of great. I just get this feeling in my whole body that I have to go and meet him. The angels sing a song, a harmonious melody that just warms you all over, and then leave as quick as they appeared. And there I am left in the dark all alone. It takes me almost 45 minutes to find the rest of the shepherds, and tell them what I experienced. As I’m telling them I can see that they are getting the same feeling all over that I am experiencing. We decide that even if there is a remote chance that this baby is going to be as great as our hero King David, it is worth the trip.
One quick game of rock, slingshot, pruning shears, to see who would stay back with the sheep, and we were off. I’m sorry but I can’t describe what that meeting was like because I still haven’t quite worked through all of the emotions myself. And I still don’t understand why someone like me, a shepherd, someone who nobody likes was given such an honor. Maybe one day I’ll know why my friends and myself were chosen, but for now I’m just going to cherish the feeling that is inside me. Maybe I can keep it the whole year through.