The Shepherd in the Field

The sheep are back in the hay fields behind our farm.  The sheep are nibbling on the left over bits of hay still growing up from the ground.  There are hundreds of sheep…watched over by one shepherd and a bunch of sheep dogs.  The dogs come in all sizes and know quite well how to protect and herd their sheep.  The sheep dogs should always be given a wide berth, if the shepherd is not around……but see, here’s the thing…the shepherd is always around…always.   The sheep are never left alone…and so for the shepherd, it would seem that this is a very lonely existence.…as he spends the days and nights with his dogs in his little sheep camp trailer.  The trailer is little more than a box on wheels, no fancy RV here at all.  The rest of the world goes on around him…we non-shepherds get to have Christmas…while the shepherd’s days do not change and it is almost as if the shepherd could be forgotten…as if he wasn’t part of the world that mattered.…and so I was so pleased that My Loving Spouse said,

‘I want to take a plate of Christmas cookies to The Shepherd.’

My husband has a good heart…and he wrapped up a beautiful plate of cookies for The Shepherd, who we’d never actually met and who doesn’t speak our language.  I was a little bit worried about the sheep dogs.  However, with The Shepherd nearby, all the dogs ran to meet us in a friendly fashion, which made me do a small prayer of thanks right on the spot.  

The dogs were rather warm and joyful as was The Shepherd…who smiled widely…understood why we’d come and hugged us both.

‘Feliz Navidad’It made me think about the way the news came from the angel to the shepherds…the shepherds, who could so easily have been ‘left out of the loop’…but this good news was for all the people.

Luke 2:10 

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

which shall be to all people.

Merry Christmas to you all…