The Journey to Christ: Chapter 4
By: Kathleen Lockwood
Tags: Childrens Books, Christmas, Religion, Illustration, Spirituality

A Christmas Story

“Six miles is a long way,” Sammy complained to Cammy, his feet dragging. “No one else seems to mind,” she responded, looking at the lively crowd of shepherds around them. The children thought about how many miles the shepherds must walk every day and felt a little silly for complaining.

“Look!” cried Sammy, “That bird has been following us for miles.” “That’s odd,” Cammy responded, not paying much attention to what her brother was saying. She was listening to Samantha questioning her father. “Shhh,” she motioned to Sammy, “Listen to them, they don’t know anything about Christ at all! They are in for a big surprise.” Cammy smiled to herself, and Sammy started listening to the shepherds’ conversation.

“Abba,” Samantha started,” the Angel said the baby is wrapped in swaddling clothes. That’s what our babies wear. I can’t believe that such a great person, an anointed one, would not be dressed in finer clothing. Lords don’t wear rags! Do you think the Angel made a mistake?” Her father stopped to think about that. “Do you remember the story about King Solomon? He was wrapped in swaddling clothes,” he responded.

“But Abba,” Ben chimed in, “we wrap our babies in bands of cloth, but we don’t put them in mangers! That is crazy! They are dirty, and animals eat out of them. That Angel must have been making this up.”

“I don’t think the Angel was making anything up,” replied the father. “Think about it, my son. Animals get their nourishment from the food in their mangers. The Angel called this special baby a soter, meaning he is a deliverer. Perhaps one day he will deliver us from hunger?” The rest of the shepherds cheered when they heard that. The father continued, “Maybe when he becomes our king, he will make sure that all our harvests are full, and we will always have food to eat.” Excited chatter broke out immediately while the shepherds imagined just how incredible that would be.

Sammy and Cammy could barely contain themselves. “I’m going to tell them the real story!” Sammy declared, “They think this is about food. I’ll tell them how Jesus feeds us spiritually!” He rushed up to talk to Ben’s mother and father. “Jesus, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa!” His face turned red, and he began to sputter. ”I’m sorry,” Ben’s mother replied, ‘’ I can’t understand that language. What are you trying to say?” Sammy calmed himself down and started over again. “The Christ child was born to Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.” Frustrated, he ran away almost in tears, while the shepherds turned to continue their walk. “Poor boy,” Sammy heard the mother say when she thought he was out of earshot.

Cammy laughed so hard she had to stop to catch her breath while the troupe walked on. “What were you telling them about Jesus? Oh, I know, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.” Her eye caught the bird circling over them again. “That bird can tell them more about Jesus than you can,” she said laughingly.

Immediately, the bird landed on Sammy’s shoulder and said, “Well, actually I can. But I won’t.”

Cammy and Sammy both jumped, but the bird hung tightly to Sammy’s clothing. “What?!?” they both exclaimed in unison, staring at the bird. The bird surely could not be talking, they thought.

“Of course I can talk,” the bird said as if it were perfectly normal. “And I could tell the shepherds everything about the Christ child, but they have to find him in their hearts, and that is a personal journey.” The bird flapped his wings and said, “You come from the future, and you can’t tell them anything about it. Right now, when you talk, they hear you saying words in their language. If you try to tell them about the future, they will not understand you. You will sound like me.” At that, the bird flew away, calling, “Follow me, children, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.”

Sammy and Cammy stood watching the bird fly away, and then, in the distance, they saw the shining city of Bethlehem.

To Be Continued…

Did you read this chapter first? To read chapter one and start from the beginning of the story, click here.