A Christmas Shepherd

While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around
And glory shone around …

Here we are again at this festive time of the year, at Christmas Eve. You may be celebrating another religious festival altogether, or none at all, simply enjoying spending time with family and loved ones. But this is after all Christmas, celebrating the birth of Christ.

I must confess, when I was thinking about what to do for my Christmas stories this year, this carol came into mind, and my thoughts kept diverging to the naughty schoolchild lyrics, “While shepherds washed their socks by night …” I debated doing a humorous picture to suit, but eventually decided to keep it clean (haha), and give you my interpretation of a trio of Christmas carols.

The story of the angel appearing to the shepherds is told in chapter two of the book of Luke in the Bible (verses 8–20), and is recounted just as the song lyrics poetically put it: the shepherds are told of the birth of a Saviour, Christ the Lord, whom they would find in a humble manger. Suddenly they were surrounded by a heavenly choir of angels singing praises to God. After this, the marvelling shepherds hurried off to find it all just as the angel had told them, and they went away telling everyone all that they had seen and heard.

Maybe you’ll be listening to carols tonight, or maybe you’ll be watching a favourite holiday film (mine is The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz), but whatever you are doing today, I hope it is both pleasurable and joyous!

~

Fashion Notes

I’m a lone shepherd here, standing in a field in the Rif Mountains of Morocco (a photo I took in 2011), wearing a jellabiya I bought in Morocco, and over the top a sleeveless jacket by Australian brand Country Road, with thrifted tan leather sandals.

Photo: December 2018