Dear Caldwell,
As with many things we saw on our recent trip to the Holy Land, the site in Bethlehem that tradition recognizes as the Shepherds’ Field, the one we read about tonight in Luke 2:8-20, carries the marks of many eras: the ruins of an ancient monastery, a 1950s Franciscan chapel, lovely modern gardens and the obligatory signs for tourists.
But it’s also clear that it was a site where caves sat atop a ridge that overlooked a field 2,000 years ago. It makes sense that shepherds would bring their flocks there and find shelter in the caves. With a little imagination, one can see it.
Like other ancient sites we visited, signs of today’s conflicts and complexities are there, too. The “shepherds’ field” lies just beneath Israeli settlements that encroach on what once was a serene and quite place. It’s an unmistakable sign of the unrest that marks that tentative and uneasy land.
Two thousand years ago, those shepherds knew unrest of their own – the strong rule of the occupying Roman government, the tense atmosphere that comes with an unwelcome overseer.
There in that place the Lord sent angels to announce that Christ was to be born, a message that the Lord has always comes into places of uncertain circumstances and tense relations. That is as true today, when so many places in the U.S. and around the world sit uneasy, as it was then.
In the chapel that overlooks the shepherd’s field, there are several striking paintings that are worth a look today and tonight. They convey the wonder and awe that we might still find within us, despite how current conflicts and ceaseless news of concern may have hardened our hearts and thickened our skin.
Hope to see you tonight at 5:30. Wherever you are tonight, may this peace be yours in the knowledge that God is always present with words of hope, especially in the midst of tense and uneasy days.
“Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy …. Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those God favors!”
In Christ,
John