3:30 a.m. at Deerpoint Lake: The night was so still, even the crickets were asleep. The dogs and I went out for a brief walk in the backyard. I looked at the night sky and wondered if it was that quiet on the hills around Bethlehem the night of Jesus’ birth when, suddenly, the heavens exploded with the light and sound of the angels announcing Christ’s presence on Earth. No wonder the first words uttered were, “Fear not.” How startling it must have been! No wonder the sh…epherds all went as a group to see the child! Who would want to be left alone after such an experience? Did they simply leave the sheep there on the hillside, just as the woman at the well thirty years or so later who left her watering pot at the well and ran to share the report of Jesus with others? She sought her neighbors’ confirmation of her discovery. They, too, came running to see and Jesus stayed two more days with them to answer their questions and share the Word of God with them. When God’s Word breaks into the stillness or routine of our lives, a desire to know more and to share it with others results. One of the Titus 2 ladies told me the same thing yesterday. God has gotten her attention in the quiet of this Christmas season in a home with few distractions and lots of time. She has heard him in her heart. She has begun “hungering and thirsting” , expressing the desire for more of God and she is telling everyone else what God is showing her. The angels, “messengers of God”, invite us to discover what they know and to join them in telling others.
