What an honor it is to speak at Christmas time.
Thought I would share it with you tonight!
Good Night dear friends!
One of my favorite Christmas memories was when I was a little girl and Christmas
Eve fell on a Sunday.
Back then, we went to church in the morning and then again in the evening
. I just remembering how neat it felt, to be a church on Christmas Eve and celebrating the Savior's birth. I remember crying as we sang the Christmas hymns, I felt the spirit so strong that night, I knew then that it was true, Jesus Christ did come to earth in very humble circumstances, and the whole world would never be the same because of it. I was happy, truly happy to be able to honor Him at church that night. As a little girl, that stands out in my mind and each time when the Christmas season rolls around again, and we sing the Christmas songs in church, that same feeling of gratitude comes back.
Back then, we went to church in the morning and then again in the evening
. I just remembering how neat it felt, to be a church on Christmas Eve and celebrating the Savior's birth. I remember crying as we sang the Christmas hymns, I felt the spirit so strong that night, I knew then that it was true, Jesus Christ did come to earth in very humble circumstances, and the whole world would never be the same because of it. I was happy, truly happy to be able to honor Him at church that night. As a little girl, that stands out in my mind and each time when the Christmas season rolls around again, and we sing the Christmas songs in church, that same feeling of gratitude comes back.
Another favorite
Christmas memory was singing in our Stake and Ward Choir. Our Choir Director Sister Slack, seemed to
make the music come alive and I strengthened my testimony through many of the
songs we sang. She would always tell us about the song and who wrote it and what
the history was behind it, and that truly did make the songs much more real to
me. One of the most powerful songs we sang was THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, but it
wasn’t until I read a talk by Elder John R. Lasater from the 1988 Ensign that I truly understood
just how much I loved that song and why. This is what he said…
Some years ago, it was my privilege to visit the country of
Morocco as part of an official United States government delegation. As part of
that visit, we were invited to travel some distance into the desert to visit
some ruins. Five large black limousines moved across the beautiful Moroccan
countryside at considerable speed. I was riding in the third limousine, which
had lagged some distance behind the second. As we topped the brow of a hill, we
noticed that the limousine in front of us had pulled off to the side of the
road. As we drew nearer, I sensed that an accident had occurred and suggested
to my driver that we stop. The scene before us has remained with me for these
many years.
An old shepherd, in the long, flowing robes of the Savior’s day,
was standing near the limousine in conversation with the driver. Nearby, I
noted a small flock of sheep numbering not more than fifteen or twenty. An
accident had occurred. The king’s vehicle had struck and injured one of the
sheep belonging to the old shepherd. The driver of the vehicle was explaining
to him the law of the land. Because the king’s vehicle had injured one of the
sheep belonging to the old shepherd, he was now entitled to one hundred times
its value at maturity. However, under the same law, the injured sheep must be
slain and the meat divided among the people. My interpreter hastily added, “But
the old shepherd will not accept the money. They never do.”
Startled, I asked him why. And he added, “Because of the love he has for
each of his sheep.” It was then that I noticed the old shepherd reach
down, lift the injured lamb in his arms, and place it in a large pouch on the
front of his robe. He kept stroking its head, repeating the same word over and
over again. When I asked the meaning of the word, I was informed, “Oh,
he is calling it by name. All of his sheep have a name, for he is their
shepherd, and the good shepherds know each one of their sheep by name.”
It was as my driver predicted. The money was refused, and the
old shepherd with his small flock of sheep, with the injured one tucked safely
in the pouch on his robe, disappeared into the beautiful deserts of Morocco.
As we continued our journey toward the ruins, my interpreter
shared with me more of the traditions and practices of the shepherds of that
land.
It has made the 23rd Psalms come alive…
Sheep instinctively know that before they have been folded for
the night, the shepherd has mapped out their grazing for the morrow. It may be
that he will take them back over the same range; it may be that he will go to a
new grazing ground. They do not worry. His guidance has been good in the past
and they have faith in the future because they know he has their well-being in
view.
VS 1: The Lord is my
Shepherd; I shall not want.
Sheep graze from around sunrise until late morning. They then
lie down for 3-4 hours and rest. Consequently, the good shepherd starts his
flocks out in the early hours on rougher herbs, moving on through the morning
to the richer, sweeter grasses, finally coming with the band to a shady place
for its forenoon rest in fine green pastures for the best grazing of the day.
VS 2: He maketh me lie down in green pastures.
Every shepherd knows that sheep do not like to drink gurgling
water. Although the sheep need the water, they prefer not to drink from these
fast – flowing streams. The shepherd must find a place where rocks or erosion
have made a pool or else he fashions with his hands a pocket sufficient to hold
at least a bucketful.
VS 2: He leadeth me beside
the still waters.
Holy Land sheep exceed in herding instinct. Each takes his place
in the grazing line in the morning and keeps the same position throughout the
day. During the day, however, a sheep may leave its place and go to the
shepherd. The shepherd stretches out his had as the sheep approaches with expectant
eyes and mild little baas.
The Shepherd rubs its nose and ears, and scratches its chin, and
whispers affectionately into its ears. The Sheep will rub against his leg or
nibble at the shepherd’s ear and rub it’s cheek against his face.
After a few minutes of this communion with the Master, the sheep
returns to its place in the feeding line.
VS 3; He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
There is a valley of the shadow of death in the Holy Land.
Grazing conditions make it necessary for the sheep to be moved through this
valley for seasonal feeding.
The valley is 4 ½ miles long. Its sidewalls are over 1500 feet
high in places and it is only 10 or 12 feet wide at the bottom. Travel through
the valley is Dangerous.
About halfway through the valley the walk crosses from one side
to the other at a place where the path is cut in two by an eight-foot gully.
One section is 18 inches higher than the other and the shepherd must stand at
its break and coax or force his sheep to make the leap. If a sheep slips and
lands in the gully, the shepherd’s staff is used to lift the sheep out.
Many wild dogs lurk in the shadows of the valley looking for
prey. If they happen upon a wild dog, the shepherd—skilled in throwing his rod,
hurls his rod at the dog and knocks it into the washed out gully.
Thus, the sheep have learned to fear no evil.
VS 4: Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil….Thy rod and Thy
staff they comfort me.
There are many poisonous plants in the grazing areas. Each
spring the shepherd goes ahead of the flock and digs out the stocks of the
poisonous plants and lays them upon a stone. By the next day they are dry
enough to burn.
In the meantime, the sheep are lead into this newly prepared
pasture which is now free from poisonous plants and graze. So, in the presence
of their deadly plant enemies, they eat in peace.
VS 5: Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies.
At every sheepfold there is a big bowl of olive oil and a large
jar of water.
As sheep come in for the night they are led to a gate. The
shepherd lays his rod across the top of the gateway and inspects each sheep in
line for briers in the ears, snags in their wool, or weeping of the eyes from
the dust or scratches.
If such a condition exists, the shepherd drops his rod and the
sheep steps out line.
Each sheep’s wounds are carefully cleaned. Then the shepherd
dips his hand into the olive oil and anoints the injury. A large cup is dipped
into the jar or water, kept cool by evaporation in and is brought out—never
half full, but always overflowing for the sheep to drink.
VS 5: Thou anointest my head
with oil; my cup runneth over.
Each evening at sundown shepherds bring in their small flocks of
sheep to a common enclosure where they are secured against the wolves. A single shepherd is employed to guard the
gate until morning.
One by one, each shepherd enters the gate early in the morning
and calls His sheep- by name. The sheep will not harken unto the voice of a
stranger, but will leave the enclosure only in the care of their true shepherd,
confident and secure because the shepherd knows their names and they know His
voice.
So as we read this Christmas Eve… the words in the book of Luke
2:8…
“And there were in the same country Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flocks by night”, let us remember this Christmas
season, we are suppose to be doing the same.
The 3rd memory was
34 years ago when I was a young missionary and it was my first Christmas away
from home. I had only been out a few months, just had my first
transfer…which meant I was leaving my trainer and going into a neighborhood
that was less than desirable. I was put with a companion with a ton of problems
and my Christmas package had gotten lost, and I thought could it get any worse?
Actually it did and circumstances had it that I was transferred again 2 days
before Christmas, into a ward that wasn’t really excited about missionary work.
I remember going saying my prayers that night and praying that this area and
situation would be better. As I arose the next morning my companion told me
that a family in the ward wanted us to come have Christmas Eve dinner with them
and our land lady wanted to have us for Christmas with her. I was hopeful that
maybe things would turn around and they did.
I will never forget the
sweet family that we had dinner and Christmas Eve with. The husband was a DR ( only know that because they mentioned how
blessed they were that he got to have Christmas Eve off this year ). They had 3
or 4 small children. I don’t remember what they served for dinner but I do
remember the Mother telling a Christmas Flannel board story. I had never heard
that story before, it was truly magical.
I was so touched by their
desire as a young family to teach their children the gospel at such a young
age. We I came home from my mission, I looked up the story. It has always been
one of our favorite Christmas stories to read each year.
I realized on my mission that we as Shepherds truly need to know
our sheep. We need to know them and their needs. They need to know
us. They need to know that we will always be there for them. I gained a
greater understanding that the Lord is truly our Shepherd and that He will
guide our efforts to feed our sheep.
I think this work is best expressed in a poem by Howard Thurman
called The Work of Christmas…
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.
I am grateful for my Savior, My Shepherd…the little babe in
Bethlehem, which has truly changed my life forever.
Testimony
No comments:
Post a Comment