“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” – John O’Donohue

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My 4 albums and 2 books (Mercy Reigns & Listen to Your Heart) are available for purchase HERE. Also available on Amazon.

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Luke 2:16-19

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

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Such a rich scripture passage today, filled with lessons for us all.

The shepherds travel to find the Christ child, the anointed one.

For the backstory, we look a few verses earlier and read, “The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

Did the angel select the people regarded as special or high in status to deliver this spectacular message?

No.

The angel picked the lowly shepherds who counted as nothing.

The shepherds listened and took action.

The angel, or the voice of the Divine, is no doubt speaking to all people.

But most are likely too busy, too immersed in the noise of the world to hear.

It takes being present to the Divine Presence to hear such messages.

Generally, these sacred communications don’t arrive as dramatically as in through actual angels.

But, in Luke’s account, the shepherds hear and respond.

Perhaps the most prestigious people at that time would have thought it preposterous to look for the Messiah in a barn lying in a manger.

But that is where Jesus was found, not just at the beginning of his earthly life, but throughout: with the lowly of the low;

with those on the margins;

the misfits;

the outcasts.

Afterall, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were refugees.

Are you and I ready to take action and respond to the lowly, the forgotten, the ones on the margins?

And then there’s Mary, the very young mother of Jesus.

She could have been as young as 13 or 14.

You think you have a lot to deal with, look at her!

The shepherds tell Mary and Joseph what the angel told them.

And then the scripture says that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

Do we listen to the inner voice in our hearts and reflect?

Do we spend time looking at what life is handing us and then reflecting upon it in our hearts?

Perhaps if we did, we would hear the news of great joy for all people.

This news of God’s great unconditional love for us might just take root and we would be effective channels of that love into this place and time.

God’s kingdom, or dimension of peace and love, would truly come on earth as it is in heaven.

May it be so for you.

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Listen to the song of the day “Make Me a Channel” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

My 4 albums and 2 books (Mercy Reigns & Listen to Your Heart) are available for purchase HERE. Also available on Amazon.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!