Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be which inspire your heavenly song?
Somewhere in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night, the shepherds were roused by a song from the heavens; a sweet song that whirled o'er the plains, and urged the mountains to echo in reply. The news, exalted by angels, proclaimed by the earth itself, urged them to find the child, lying in a manger. The child was the King of kings before whom royalty kneels, and the Shepherd of men, at whose birth the shepherds of earth were present.
And just as every lamb is counted, so will every soul be.
While the kings bended knees in humility, imagine the adulation, the joy, exuberance of the shepherds. What an honor to find yourself in the presence of an enraptured young mother, awed by her child, and still trying to grasp the idea that this tiny babe is the gift the world has been awaiting. What a compounded happiness. Might we find the simplicity of life that makes us celebrate every tiny joy, that helps us be overwhelmed by the truly magnificent.
photos: Atef Safadi image on the West Bank at Ramallah, shepherd image from vi.sualize.us, Jesus as shepherd (who did this sketch? i love this!), LCTGloriosity Atlanta Botanical Gardens 2009, Rembrandt's Adoration of the Shepherds - speaking of the truly magnificent...
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