Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Christmas Lights (10/30/08)
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TITLE: The Greatest Light | Previous Challenge Entry
By Judy Meyers
11/06/08 -
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“Tell us, Zack, what really happened?” the group said, echoing each other.
“Well,” Zack continued, “We were just minding our business, out in the fields with our sheep, when all of a sudden we heard the wind blowing. It wasn’t like a chilly wind in the harvest season. It was like warm breezes that come off the Sea of Galilee on a summer night. All I know is that it felt good!”
The small company barked orders for Zack to keep focused on the story.
“As we sat around the fire, we started to hear voices. We looked around the camp area and didn’t see anyone. The only inhabitants on those lonely hills were us and our sheep. The evening was getting late and the stars were filling the sky like jewels on a black cloth. The voices grew louder and suddenly the sky was full of heavenly beings.”
“Like angels?” queried one of the listeners.
“I believe they were angels,” Zack answered.
“How many angels were there?” another asked.
“Too many to count,” Zack continued. “They were all around us and some were flying over the sheep. I couldn’t count them because the sky was filled with brilliant lights. As dark as sky had been before, it was almost like daylight. One of the angels spoke to us and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, I bring you good news.’
“That’s easy for you to say, I thought. I was shaking clear through to my bones. Then the angel told us that a baby had been born in Bethlehem and that he would be the Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Then, all of the heavenly beings gathered as one voice and sang. They sang. ‘Glory to God in the highest, peace and good will to all who inhabit the earth!’ The angels filled the sky and their music was like an orchestra right out of heaven.”
“Wow!” one person exclaimed. “What an announcement!”
“Yep!” Zack exclaimed, “I was sittin’ there with my mouth wide open!”
Another shepherd continued. “After the angels had sung, the sky was filled with brilliant lights of all colors. Shades of purple, blue and crimson were interwoven as the breezes blew around us. Just as suddenly as the angels had come, they were gone. Overhead, we saw one shining light. It seemed to hover over the town of Bethlehem.”
“We left our sons in charge of the sheep and went immediately to
Bethlehem to find this baby.”
“How did you find him?
“We followed that one light. It was the most immaculate star I had ever seen. It was more brilliant than any other star in the heavenlies,” Zack continued.
The room of shepherds was quiet as Zack told of the stable filled with the regular animals. He told how they seemed to tiptoe into the stable, not knowing what they would find. Zack reminded them of the smell of a stable and how the hay mixed with manure would saturate the air.
“Whew!” one listener blurted. “We get the picture; you don’t need to tell us about that scent.”
“We heard the normal sounds of the sheep. The cows were sleeping but the chickens were making their normal clucking Then, back in a corner stall, we heard a different sound. It was the sound of a newborn baby crying. He is here! That’s him! My heart almost leaped out of my chest. This baby had been the focus of prophecies for as long as I could remember. Now, he had arrived!
“We knelt before him and worshipped this baby. Our hearts were full of emotion. We watched as his mother held him and smiled at us. His father stood proudly over them.
“After we spent some time there, we decided we must leave and gathered our things. As we left the stable, we turned to look in the skies again. There, above the stable was the one shining star, pointing the way to anyone who would want to know where the baby was.”
The room was silent again. The shepherds smiled as Zack finished his account.
“It seems good to say that the light that showed us the stable was pointing the way to the very Light that would become the Light of the World.
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