"Sven did you yust see what I think I yust saw?"
"I don’t know Carl--what do you think it is that you yust saw--because I think I yust saw what you think you yust saw?"
"Angels, Sven, angels--one angel and then a whole bunch of angels--singing some strange religious song and talking about some baby."
"Yah, that’s what I think I yust saw, too..." said Sven who went on. "We’re yust shepherds. Shepherds shouldn’t get involved in this kind of thing. We do sheep, not religion, not babies, and not angels! And besides we’re foreigners here. Those angels probably thought we were the locals."
"If they were really angels" chimed stoic Carl. "I don’t believe in angels or religious fanaticism. And whatever they were, those angels were fanatics."
"Oh Carl, what if they come back--are they dangerous? Maybe we should go into town to see their baby. It would make them happy. Besides, I’m sure there are plenty of people in town and angels won’t yust show up with lots of people around. We’d be safe there!"
"I don’t know," said Carl, "maybe it’s time we yust to go back home to our own country, and pretend this thing never happened. Give up this shepherd nonsense and get back to something predictable. Maybe we could get jobs carving those little wooden horses or go back to fishing."
"Oh, I can smell the lutefisk now--mmmm!" chimed Sven, "but what do we do about all of these sheep? We can’t yust leave them here."
"Oh, let’s take them over to Benymin and David over at the ridge," said Carl.
The two shepherds jumped to their feet and waded out into the flock of grazing sheep. By the moonlight, filtered through the high night clouds they managed to lead their confused flock the half mile to the ridge.
There they offered a hurried explanation to the baffled Benjamin and David, muttering something about a family crisis back home. Then Carl and Sven rushed off into the night, northwest, away from Bethlehem and toward their old country.
But just as they were about 200 yards from the camp, a flicker of bright light invaded the periphery of their vision and they glanced back only to see the seemingly same cadre of angels hovering and singing over Benjamin and David’s camp site.
"Oh," exclaimed a trembling Carl, "We got out of there yust in time"
"Yah," agreed Sven, "better them than us!"
And the two former shepherds, smug in their good fortune and the wisdom of their decision, hurried off even faster toward the safety of their own country.
©1996 Brad Boydston. All rights reserved. Permission for non-commercial use granted. Permission for SermonCentral.com use granted.
