Anticipaton- Day 6

When we arrived at Migdal Eder, all was hushed but it wasn’t silent. We could still hear the low bleating of sheep and the rustling of the wind, but there was something different about the place. Maybe it was because I didn’t know what to expect.  I was still struggling in my mind. It is a funny thing to know something in your inner man but yet, your mind tells you it can’t possibly be so. As I listened to the night noises, I began to sense the hush was an invitation inside me. “Can you just allow yourself to BE and not try to figure things out? Can you enter the moment?” I felt the tangible import of this time. Mystery and Wonder were greeting one another with deference.  And so… I bowed my head and said yes. I immediately entered a place of inner quiet and it became well with my soul.

Now it was time.

We had all paused outside the tower and we looked at each other before entering.  In retrospect, it was amusing that each of us nodded simultaneously, letting me know we were all ready.  I opened the gate and we entered the tower.

The others crowded in behind me, keeping close to the wall. None of us wanted to move further in until we had a moment to assess the room. We didn’t know what we would find. Then we saw Yuval. I always thought his name was especially fitting for his profession. Although it means “stream or brook or tributary”, he was named after the ancestor of all who played the lyre and pipe, as so many of us do, to keep ourselves company. Being a shepherd is a very solitary profession. The music also soothes the sheep and lets them know we are nearby.

Yuval was tenderly helping a very young woman; showing her how to wrap her sleepy baby in the same way he wrapped the sacrificial lambs after birth. His face shone with a softness I had never seen on him. His eyes were actually brimming as he nodded encouragement. When she finished swaddling the baby, he tenderly touched her arm and smiled his approval. I heard him say, “He is beautiful.” I had never seen Yuval so gentle. It is usually all business and duty with him. He is a weathered and burly man with a craggy face who spent a lifetime in the fields until he was promoted to this priestly role, here in the Tower of the Flock. He knows how to spot a blemish or a defect that will make a lamb unsuitable for sacrifice, where others would not think to look. He has inspected so many lambs over the years, running his hands over every inch of their little bodies: he can almost do it blindfolded and still get it right. His pronouncement over this child was no small thing. Yuval was giving him his approval. The child was perfect in every way.

It was then we caught sight of a young man standing by the side of the woman. He had been hidden by her movements. He was slightly bent, observing the wrapping with interest. Actually, it wasn’t the wrapping that fascinated him, it was the baby. He was as smitten as a boy with his first crush. He couldn’t hide it. I saw the absolute devotion in his eyes, and when he heard Yuval’s pronouncement, he turned to look at the young woman and he grinned. Then, tender concern for the girl flashed over that same face, and he reached for her arm to encourage her to rest. He looked tired too, as he led her to some clean bedding.

Yuval noticed us and came to greet us with a curious look on his face. It was not the norm to have visitors and certainly not the norm to have all of us crowding into the place. Everyone looked at me so I recounted the story of what had just happened: the angel, the message, the appearance of the Heavenly Host and the music. As I told the story, Yuval became more and more serious; thoughtful even. I could tell it was a lot to process, but he could not deny we had come right after a young woman in labor had required shelter after a long journey. The fact that we knew a baby had been born in this very place, was enough to convince him that it was something more than coincidence.

He motioned us to come and see the newborn baby. We all moved closer and took turns marveling at him. This was the Mashiach? I still had no place in my mind for that thought, but as I gazed at him, my thoughts turned to the words of the Angel, and it was just as he had spoken. “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And we had, and here he was…. So, if that was true, then maybe the rest was true. “For to you is born this day in the Town of David, a Savior which is Christ, the Mashiach.” I chose to believe what sense told me was foolish, but my heart told me must be true. And as I gazed, the baby opened his eyes and looked at me for just a moment before closing them again and making those little noises babies make when they stretch and yawn.

In that moment, it was like looking into eternity. They say the eyes are the windows of the soul, and if that is true, I glimpsed heaven. I don’t mean literally, but what I received in that instant was love and approval and acceptance, assurance and a deep and abiding sense of peace. It was like He touched me with His gaze and it changed my understanding of Elohim. There was something about this baby who looked completely ordinary, that was declaring a new paradigm; one of graciousness and mercy. I was overcome with humility as I recalled my interpretations of the words of the prophets concerning this Child. They were so weak.

“For unto us a Child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne, and over His kingdom, establishing it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Here was our deliverance, and it looked nothing like I had imagined. It seems it is always we that must be altered when we glimpse eternal Truth, and even though I did not understand how it would unfold, I believed, and that was enough for now.

We gave our respects to the young couple and departed. Yuval told us they still had a bit of a trek into town to register for the census Caesar Augustus had mandated. There would be crowds and jostling in Bethlehem. They needed to rest.  As we made our way back to care for our flocks, we were pretty silent. I suppose the others were just as introspective as I, marveling at what had just taken place.