A humbled reflection

In the bleakness of that moment
with the weight of hopelessness crushing down on them

With heads hung low
they quietly stoked the embers of the dying fire-
needing more than those coals to ignite.

Cold, Alone, and Tired --huddled together,
wrapped in much more than blankets.

People, or the Shepherds doing what they can to survive
another night on the margins.

When your down to pickings and the darkness isolates-
snuffing out any chance for Hope to survive,
it’s easier to turn up the collar and shuffle your feet just a bit
to feel like you are alive-but all that stirs isolation.
Nothing else from a bleak and cold night.

Yet, it is in the bleak and cold isolated moment that something sparked.
-Reminding us to keep holding on and that we are not alone.

A burst of light!
An explosion of sound!
Singing a new melody
A different tune!

“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace has come.
Good news igniting great Joy!
For God has come to dwell and deliver!”

Once cold and alone, isolated on the margins
God is now dwelling with!

Small and huddled became the mighty and driven
-praising and glorifying God.

Commissioned with a message
Empowered with a prophetic joy.

So, quietly and reverently they approached.

The isolation dissolved like ice as they fell down to worship.
Fear was not as strong as they gazed upon that child.

God knows.
God responds.
God is making it all right.

A salvation that caught them unaware
A plan wrapped in humility and grace
It wasn’t through the mighty and powerful
but in the innocence and servanthood of a child
that God’s Kingdom came.
It was in the sacrifice and love that God’s Kingdom was victorious.

The entirety of the prophetic Word made alive that night.

And not just for those isolated shepherds,
but as we wait, as we begin again,
we live in the same glorious reality of those shepherds.

Behold those who are alone and struggling
Get ready to those small and trying
Fear not, the King has come and is coming again.
Take a breath, pause, take heart, and listen…

He who made it all has been made like his sisters and brothers,
taking on flesh and blood.
For only as a human could he die,
and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, and death.
Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to fear.
Cheer up! He is now our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.
His sacrifice has brought redemption and brings us back to his table.
For because he himself, humbled, putting on flesh and dwelling with us
has gone through suffering and isolation,
he is able to help and sit with us in the midst of our sufferings.
Driven by love God has come to all!