Stable Few

So my Friday outing with my friends was GREAT! There must have been 12 of us K-9’s there. I wish I could show you pictures but my MOM didn’t take any.  Oh sure she brought her camera, but as usual she was so caught up in the walk, and watching me and the other dogs she forgot to take pictures.  The best part was my gal pal Belle came with me.  And Bert was right, I for sure have to keep an eye, both eyes, on Murphy.  He sure liked her.  I’m watching you Murphy!  MOM did take one picture. 

When we dropped Belle off at her house we went home and this is how I spent the rest of the day and night.  I was so tired MOM had to help me on the couch.  I’m so tired I don’t even care that I have that ridiculous hat on and I’m cuddling the snowman pillow.

I guess it’s OK MOM didn’t take any pictures cuz I want to ask you a question on this Christmas Eve.

Do you ever wonder what you would have heard had you been there that night, that first Christmas night. It is a question that I think about each year. Would I have heard the choirs of angels singing or simply the sounds of barnyard animals shifting around. Would I have seen the star in the sky that night or simply two poor and very frightened kids. Would I have understood the hushed silence of the divine presence, or simply the chill of a cold east wind. Would I have understood the message of Emmanuel, God with us, or would the cosmic implications of that evening have passed me by?

It’s quite possible that two different people could have heard and seen two entirely different scenes. All of life is this way. God never presents himself in a manner in which we are forced to believe. We are always left with an option, that’s God's way. One can say "It’s a miracle", while another says "its coincidence."

You see, what we see and what we hear in life depends not upon the events but rather who we are as people. It's not what is out there but what is inside of us.

You may say, “had I been there at Bethlehem that night I would have seen. I would have understood.” Would you? There is one way of knowing, ask yourself what you saw this Christmas Season. When you watched the 6:00 o’clock news did you see chaos and strife, or did you see sheep without a Shepherd? When you went out to do your shopping did you see only hordes of people in the stores or did you notice the worried expressions on some of their faces? Worried because they are facing this Christmas without employment and they don't know how they are going to make ends meet.

And ask yourself what you heard this Christmas? Did you hear only the blasts of music and carols, or did you hear the silent sighs of the lonely or those who are in pain, who may be dreading Christmas because it accentuates their loneliness or their difficulties? And in the midst of the sounds of honking horns and people arguing over parking places, did you hear the faint sound of laughter that will be coming from a shelter because you furnished toys for the children there?

You see, so often what we see and what we hear is not dependent upon the event but upon ourselves. If you did in fact hear the cry from the lonely, the laughter of children in need, if you saw the sheep without a shepherd, then you might just have seen the events that took place in Bethlehem that night.

So we need to ask ourselves, “Am I a part of the Inn crowd, or the stable few?”

Merry Christmas and Blessings my friends,

Goose