My Commentary on “Listen to the Shepherds”
The poem itself is found on page 28 of IMMANUEL, my recently published second book of poems.
We tend to think that many aspects of life are determined by being in the right place at the right time with the right credentials. If you don’t show up now at this sales counter, you will miss this amazing deal on a 57 inch TV. If you fail to apply for this job at this location, you will lose this opportunity. If you don’t go to this Ivy League school, you will miss all the connections and advantages that come with such an education.
What I find encouraging about the way God breaks into the human situation is that these shepherds were on the margins of society and yet the greatest news of all came to them as a gift. They were not in the loop. They were not associated with the “in crowd.” And yet the glad tidings of great joy came to them, not to the rabbis and scholars in Jerusalem.
The pattern repeats itself in so many ways. We could not get to God. The good news is that he came to us. I am going to quote from a book dedication of Arthur Burt but will apply it to this poem. This poem is dedicated to all those who missed the bus, but who made it anyway because Someone gave them a lift.
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