The First Christmas Eve

Darkness is falling quickly and the stars begin to peep out of the blue-black velvet sky. The city is noisy and full of people. I am employed at an inn and we are bursting at the seams because Caesar Augustus has decreed a census. We’ve got people sleeping in the food preparation area, camped in the courtyard, and doubled up in private rooms. Even the traveler’s animals are tightly packed into the stable. I send out the servant boy to put extra hay in the manger so the animals will rest quietly with full stomachs.

It’s late and there’s a knock at the door. The innkeeper answers it. There is a couple looking for a place to rest for the night and they tell him he is their last hope. The innkeeper regretfully says we are full. But as I pass by the doorway on my way to look for the servant boy who is taking his time, I see that the young woman, a girl really, is fairly bursting with child, her coarse dress straining across her belly. If she doesn’t find a place to rest, I’m afraid she’ll have the baby right there in the entrance.

The innkeeper and I exchange looks and he motions his head towards the back, where the stables are. I nod at the couple and ask them to come with me. They smile shyly and follow me. The young woman gratefully settles on the dirt floor next to the pen that holds the lambs.

I feel terrible they are in the stable but there’s nothing else I can do. I would offer them my room but I am already sharing with a number of servant girls, some of them strangers. The young woman’s husband would not be allowed in there and she needs him close by.

In the middle of the night, I am woken by a brilliant light and the sound of otherworldly singing. I grab my wrap but forget my sandals, as I run outside to see what is causing the commotion. I see shepherds heading toward the stables. I am confused because they should be out in the fields. Concerned about the young woman, I follow the shepherds. And there, laying in the manger, is the most beautiful, radiant baby I have ever seen.

He is sleeping peacefully, under the tender gaze of his young mother, her smooth hand curved around his little head. The new father stands watch over the baby and his mother as the shepherds kneel speechless in adoration. I too drop to my knees, heedless of the aroma of animals and unwashed shepherds in such close quarters. For He is here! Our Saviour is HERE!