At the time of Jesus birth, Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be registered, so each one went to their own home town.  Joseph took Mary and went to Bethlehem, the city of David, because he was of the lineage of David.  When I think of Bethlehem I always picture the words of the Christmas carol, “O little town of Bethlehem…in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.”

My grandson Grant is very gifted artistically.  He was showing me some of the photographs he had taken and when I saw this image, I immediately thought of these words in the carol describing Bethlehem. I imagine that great light bursting forth into this sleepy little town at the moment Jesus was born.  Wow, how breathtakingly beautiful that must have been!  Joseph had come home.  Indeed, the whole world came home that holy night, and the sky declared that glory!

Another photo, this time out my own back window, a view of the sky in my own backyard.  Recently I was reading an article on “busyness” and a comment by Lauren Raine, “As I create a much simpler life for myself, I increasingly find many wonders in my own backyard.”  I look at this photograph and realize that the everlasting light that came to the dark streets of Bethlehem also happens in my own backyard!

So perhaps for us, it is not as much about traveling to Bethlehem as it is about awakening to the wonders in our own backyard.  “Be still and know that I am God”. (Psalm 46:10).  The voice of the Christmas carol continues, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given; so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.” YES!

Questions to think about…

Where is the place you consider to be your home town?

How have you experienced the wonder of God in your own backyard?

How might you “be still” in these Advent days for the wondrous gift that comes silently?

nk