Minding Sheep

 

Looking back, we were pretty ignorant about the whole thing. But we had an old farm house, a small pasture with good grass, readily available irrigation, and we had read that sheep were easy to raise. We drove to a local farmers' auction, dead-set on getting some lambs. Surprisingly, we took the bid on a nice little flock of three, loaded them into the back of our small pickup, and home we came. Unloading them into the field, the fun began - those little lambs, in a strange place and separated from others of their kind, began a loud, plaintive bleating that we were sure could be heard in the next county; it went on for hours. Who knew???

 

 

That first tentative step into raising sheep taught us much, and when we moved from Idaho to Washington, we tried again - in fact, we tried several times. Each time, we managed to raise them to butchering size and were satisfied that we got a big pile of wool to spin and a good batch of meat for the freezer. This is not to say we were highly-knowledgeable sheep farmers. Far from it!

 

 

Two thousand years ago, on the other side of the world, the shepherd's equipment was very simple: a cloak woven from wool or made from sheepskins, a lighter, short-sleeved coat, a staff or club, a sling of goat's hair, a skin pouch or bag for his belongings, and sometimes a musical pipe.

In those days, shepherds knew their sheep. Unless he could afford to delegate the work to his relatives or hirelings, the sheep owner tended his flocks himself. If others watched them, they well may have been neglected or abused, but the owner had a personal interest in the well-being of the animals and if he herded them they usually had good care.

Either way, the main job of the shepherd was to see that the sheep found plenty to eat and drink. The flocks are not fed in pens or folds, but depended on foraging both summer and winter. Sheep are fairly helpless on their own and do not possess the instinct of many other animals for finding their way, so they need to be led to good grazing and watered at least once a day. This was an easy matter on mountain tops with melting snows or if there were springs or streams, but in other places they depended on deep wells. Often the nearest water was hours away. Sometimes it could be found by digging shallow wells and the shepherd would carry a container from which the sheep could drink.

The usual time for watering was at noon. After drinking, the animals huddled together in the shade of a rock while the shepherd slept. At the first sound of his call, usually a peculiar guttural sound, the flocks followed him to new feeding-grounds. They never mistook their own master's voice, even if the sheep intermingled and two shepherds called their flocks at the same time.

In the mountains, flocks were gathered at night into folds, which were caves or enclosures of rough stones. Where there was no danger the sheep huddled together in the open until daylight, while the shepherd watched over them. Lambs were often born far off on a mountain side. The shepherd guarded the mother during her labor, picked up the newborn and carried it to the fold. He might carry it in his arms or in the loose folds of his coat for a few days until it grew strong.

 

So very long ago - I often wish I had been there...

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."...The shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them...The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.                      Luke 2:10-12, 15-18, 20

Following Stars

The Milky Way

 On that quiet evening, with no wind or gentle lapping of waves along the lake shore, only occasional crackling from the embers of our dying fire disturbed the night. Above, a billion points of light sparkled against black velvet sky. With hushed voices, we shared what we knew of planets and stars; a few we could even find and point out. We found the constellations revolving around Polaris, the North Star: The Big and Little Dippers, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Draco. In another part of the sky there was Orion, the mighty hunter, and the glowing, hazy, stream of the Milky Way. Someone saw the streak of a meteor. A steadily moving light must be an airplane - or was it a satellite? Hours passed and no one cared; tranquility settled upon us.

            The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) 
Long ago, when people lived close to the land and knew it much better than we do, they knew the night sky. Without glaring lights from cities and traveling vehicles, the moon and brilliant stars were hard to ignore. With small, crowded homes, people gathered outdoors on temperate evenings to visit and tell stories. With minds uncluttered by our modern technological distractions, they would gaze at, study, and discuss the heavens. Their lives revolved around the seasons and the stars helped to indicate those. If they were travelers, day or night, the sky helped them plot their course.

                                                                    Orion

Magi originated from a caste of Zoroastrian priests in ancient Persia, which is now known as Iran. During Roman times they were recognized as physician-astrologers who healed the sick, interpreted dreams, and cast horoscopes. Considered wise men who were truly knowledgeable, they were well known for practicing astrology. Although generally frowned upon today, in those days astronomy and astrology were closely related and practiced together. Magi charted the heavens, interpreted the signs, and studied ancient manuscripts from around the world. Mighty rulers of the day typically consulted with and relied upon the wisdom of these men. Indeed, King Herod did just that.

 Not much is known about the Magi who followed the star to find Jesus. We do not know where they came from or how many there were. Probably they came from Mesopotamia, Parthia, Syria, or Persia, but no one knows for sure. Tradition says there were 3 wise men because of their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And the mysterious star? Some believe God created one special star for one special event. Others believe it was a singular super nova, exploding light-years away. Perhaps it was Jupiter, Saturn, or both arriving together on their orbits extra-close to earth. There are those who believe the star appeared only as a shape on a carefully-plotted astrological chart of the day. Whatever the case, it was an extraordinarily rare and impacting event that lured the Magi thousands of miles to see the king of the Jews.            
                                                                      Cassiopeia

 The “how” does not matter to me so much as the “what” and “why”. Gathered as we were at our family cabin, we were stunningly aware that there was more we didn’t know, than what we did, about the heavens that summer. Mostly, we were simply awed and humbled by a vast and nearly incomprehensible universe flung so grandly light-years beyond us. Only God could do that, and if He did that - He can do anything.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Matthew 2:1,2, 7-8

Constellation picture files from Wikimedia Commons

Milky Way by Serge Brunier

Big Dipper by Gh5046

Orion by Mouser

Cassiopeia by Randal J. Ferret

*This nearly life-sized outdoor nativity scene was produced over a four year period of time with church youth at a summer family camp. I designed and sketched each figure, the kids enlarged and traced them onto exterior plywood, cut them out, primed and painted them. I did final painting in the fall. Many hours of effort went into creating this, which is displayed each year in front of our church.

The Shepherds Wore Tennis Shoes

The shepherds wore tennis shoes, Mary checked her makeup, one of the wise men got the giggles, the sheep were noisy and nearly knocked the manger over to get to the hay...

When our son was young, I spent many years helping with Sunday School. Each year, inevitably, as fall progressed into winter the time came to plan for the yearly production - Christmas Program. Things do not always go as smoothly with these things as we adults would sometimes like. We never knew for sure how many kids would be there each week for the essential costume “fittings”, practicing of lines to say and songs to sing. And so one year, we tried a new approach.


In early November, we began to work on this Christmas program. We wanted to tell the story of Jesus’ birth. We wanted music. We wanted everyone to be in it, and we wanted it to be a little different. Well, it certainly was.

Each week, we’d costume the kids on the spot, using whatever odds and ends we had on hand. Then, we’d head outdoors for a photo shoot, while I diligently tried to capture them on film (This was before we all had digital cameras.) The first week, using everyone present, we asked the kids to become “Jews trudging to Judea”- across the back of the church property and through Murial’s pasture. The 2nd week the younger kids were transformed into angels, complete with tinsel halos and wonderful, childish humor. The 3rd week we met in a nearby field, hastily dressing preadolescence boys in scraps of burlap and other rough fabric. Handing them wooden staffs, we lit a small fire and cautiously tried to herd a small flock of leery sheep within camera range. The 4th week we met at our house, using our old barn and 3 sheep for the crucial manger scene. It was a night I’ll never forget.

It did occur to me our schedule was tight. If we missed one week, or I ruined one roll of film, we would not be able to complete our plans. But we blundered ahead and somehow it all worked out. The day of the program we all sat back and relaxed (more or less). We did tell story of Jesus’ birth. The Kids' Choir sang, a couple of kids played piano pieces, a few of the older ones read our rendition of the Christmas Story. And all the while, on the screen in the front of the sanctuary, flashed picture after picture of our precious children - every single one of them. Not everyone sang on key, nor remembered all the words. The musicians tripped over some of their notes, the narrators missed some of their cues, some of the slides were too dark or slightly out of focus. None of that really mattered - and to this day, one memory stands out in my mind.

Picture this: a cold, dark, rainy night in an old, dingy barn - rain beating down on the tin roof, crowded with wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, baby and hay-filled manger - and real sheep. The noisy, smelly kind. We were only pretending, but in doing so we got a little closer to each other, a little closer to that baby born so long ago - a little closer to the real meaning of Christmas.


Let none of us forget - that is where it all began.

It is the children who help us remember.

MERRY
CHRISTMAS!

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:6