Thoughts from the Thicket
San Jacinto News Times - December 2007
By Dr. Don Shannon

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”              ---Luke 2:1-14
Several years ago I made my first trip to the Holy Land.  As we toured around the country, one of the first things I realized was that the sites we were being shown might or might not have been the exact places where certain Biblical events took place.  Some of the events, like the death and burial of Jesus, have been assigned to more than one site, with the authenticity of one over the other being a hotly debated issue.  On the outskirts of Bethlehem the wide rolling countryside is covered with waving grasses and beautiful wildflowers.  These areas are said to be the shepherds’ fields.  Again, whether they are or not is open to question, but looking out across them caused me to try to imagine how those shepherds must have felt on the night of Jesus’ birth.
Have you ever tried to imagine how they felt?  Anyone who has ever sat by a campfire looking out into the dark of night surely has experienced some of the shepherds’ feelings.  There is something about the night that makes us cautious and often even fearful.  It is a fear born from our lack of knowledge.  We just don’t know what is out there beyond the dim glow of light that encircles us.  There in the shadows it takes only a little noise, a minor movement, and our hearts jump within us.
But the dark of night was not the only uncertainty that struck fear in the shepherds that night.  They, like millions before them for thousands of years, found fear not only in the dark of night, but in the dark night of the soul as well.  Death was a reality that faced them every day.  Life for the shepherd was hard, and both day and night, dangers loomed about them.  They were fearful because they still had no answer to the question which Job had asked centuries before, If a man die, shall he live again?
That night in the fields around the City of David, as the shepherds watched their sheep, both their fear of the dark of night and of the dark night of the soul were laid to rest.  No longer would they need to fear the dark of night, nor the darkness of death.  The light of the world had come, and the words of Isaiah rang true.  The people that walked in the darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined (Isaiah 9:2). 
The lights of Christmas remind us of that eternal light that has shone in our hearts, dispelling all fear of the darkness of death.  As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we celebrate our rebirth as well.  Christmas is a time of light and life for all who believe.