Light in the Darkness

One of the benefits of being a country parson is living far away from the glowing lights that disrupt seeing the beauty of the night sky.  I mean, my neighborhood is full of street lights, but it isn’t too far a drive to be in the middle of no where with only the Milky Way and the Moon shining brightly overhead.  It is a similar scene that the shepherds find themselves in.  Night after night they watch over their flocks in the darkness with only the moon and the stars to offer light in the darkness.

It is no wonder then, that they are terrified, literally fearing a mega fear, when one evening the darkness of the night turned into the brightness of the day.  Luke tells us that “the glory of the Lord shone around them,” or as the New Living Translation puts it, “the radiance of the Lord’s glory…