The wonder of that night never lost its brilliance for them. For years after they first heard the angels announce the birth of Jesus, the shepherds probably told and retold the story.
They may have said something like, "It was a night just like this one, when we were watching over the flocks during the night. We were standing right about where you are right now, when suddenly we were bathed and surrounded by an overwhelming Light, the glory of which we had never seen before."
They would go on to describe as best they could the appearance of the first angel, and the impact of his words on them. They would tell of their hurried trip to Bethlehem, and of their discovery of the Baby in the manger, just as the angel had said.
The commonplace was glorified in the sense that God was present in the midst of their routine as never before. It was "holy ground."
These types of experiences are not limited to those times when the Bible is open on our laps. They do not come only when we are praying alone in the woods, while watching a beautiful sunrise, or only in the church building on Sunday morning.
In fact, if our relationships with Christ are real at all, holy ground moments will happen even in the routine of our lives. When we have just one of these holy ground moments with God, the rest of life takes on a radiant freshness–the sparkling presence of God that glistens and glimmers and dances through our lives.
The shepherds went back to the routine of tending their sheep. Yet they never got over it. May we each have such an experience with God--"a holy ground moment"--that we never get over it.
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com
"Look for the light of God that is hitting your life, and you will find sparkles you didn't know were there."--Barbara Johnson