From Shepherd's Field to Managua

Once when I was a boy I went to Bethlehem for Christmas. It was in 1972, just after the second Israeli / Arab conflict. We were traveling unescorted so we were on our own dealing with all of the imposed travel restrictions within the country; Bethlehem was in a military zone at that time. We navigated all of the red tape and made it to the town by mid afternoon. There are two memories from that afternoon and evening that I still carry with me.

In the late afternoon we decided to make our way to Shepherd’s Field about three miles west of the town. It was not crowded at all and there was a little stirring of excitement as Harold Wilson, one of Britain’s mid-century Prime Ministers was also in our small gathering. But that was not the memory that has stayed with me all these years. The impression I took with me has only grown over the years.

This place, this small piece of ground, covered with tall golden grass was the place where God chose to reveal to the world what he was doing; that he had arrived among men and had chosen the city of Bethlehem to do that. It was cold that afternoon and I knew the evening would be even more so and I imagined that it was also cold that night so many years ago.

The men who sat in that field that evening fighting the cold and huddling around their fire surrounded by their flocks were burst upon with the light and music of angels telling them that God was among them. That God \ chosen these simple men to tell of these tidings is so characteristic of him. God had chosen these ordinary faithful men, men probably not much different from you and I. These are the kind of people God looks for; faithful and quick to obey. Cathedral paintings have so damaged our understanding of how God works amongst us. The point of all this is to encourage you to go about your life faithfully and quietly and when God bursts in on you to rise and go with him, never looking back.

Later that evening we were wandering around Manger Square and ran into a fellow from Nicaragua. A few days before a major earthquake had struck Managua and killed thousand of people. This fellow had not been able to contact his people and was very frightened. He was traveling solo too. We decided to hang with him for the rest of the evening just being his friend; nothing holy about that; but wait.

I tell you people that shared space filled with friendship, companionship and compassion is holy ground. So this season if you find yourself with someone in need who is frightened and running scared join with him or her the place will be a Cathedral of hope, one not built with human hands but built by God himself. God bless all of you. bnr