despite being far far away from home and all the trappings of this holiday season, i feel like i’m even closer to the true spirit of Christmas and just what life was like for Jesus. as i walk through the bush, the desert, avoiding the mini-thorn bushes, i wince as i imagine these same thorns (which twice have pierced through the soles of my flip-flops to my toe) pressed into Jesus’s head. i can almost see John the baptist crying out “Prepare the way for the Lord,” in all his bedraggled gear. wherever did he find those locusts and honey? i see a well, which looks pretty much like a deep ditch with water, and it’s midday and i can almost see Jesus asking the samaritan woman for a drink. staring out at the starry sky, the stars brighter than i’ve ever seen, i can imagine myself as one of the magi or shepherd who saw the star that led them to Christ. i can almost see the camels they took. i can almost smell the manger. and as i told epetet, a young turkana guy who is a goatherd, about Jesus, i couldn’t help but wonder how well he would get along with david.
while you roast some chesnuts on an open fire for me, i’ll be thinking of y’all too.
