My mom labeled the child-Margo as “butt-headed,” referencing a stubborn mule who won’t budge until ready. I was really more of a “doubting Thomas,” focused on what I could see or experience before I’d believe. Luke’s shepherds are neither, since they were simply minding their own business and hoping to lose no sheep in the dark. However, they get an eyeful of angels announcing the Messiah. They get an earful: “If you find a manger and a wrapped-up baby, you’ve arrived!” Savvy about human nature, the angels know the shepherds won’t be able to resist their curiosity. Sure enough, they follow the clues and find the child. “Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed.” (The Message)

The shepherds’ incredible experience impressed all who heard it. They didn’t proclaim that they believed Messiah had come, but that they’d seen and heard angels who led them to see (and perhaps touch) this newborn king. Sadly our world has never been particularly impressed with Christian beliefs, but people may listen to what we have seen and experienced. So Advent is a good time to reflect, not just on what we believe, but also on what we have experienced.

I could talk all day about the Holy Spirit, but people lean in when I relate my incredible encounter with the Holy Spirit years ago in Brookdale Park. Maybe you’ve experienced God speak in your heart or in a mysterious meaningful dream, or you’ve seen a miraculous answer to prayer. Maybe you can’t explain why you chose to pick up the phone, or to write an email or letter, or to stop for a stranger, due to strange prompting, which resulted in something marvelous. We need to remember this wonder for ourselves and to share this wonder with others.

So much of our faith cannot be explained by logic and may not be believed by skeptics. But in the same way the shepherds were open to the angels’ news, (perhaps because they had been hoping and praying), so might the people we encounter be hoping and praying for some sign that a good God is spreading good news. May we be bold in this season of Advent to share our stories of God’s goodness. May those who hear be impressed, not by us, but by the wonder and mystery of the shepherds’ experience, and of our experience, of this child.

Margo Walter