How 'Bout Dem Shepherds?

   Down here in South Georgia there are a lot of Georgia Bulldog fans, especially football fans, and, when something spectacular happens to the team, these folks begin their conversations with a rhetorical question, "How 'bout dem Dogs?" Of course this question can also be used in the reverse scenario by detractors of the athletic program, when those same Dogs blow one, and the question becomes a statement of derision, "How 'bout dem Dogs?"

   On this Christmas morning, as I walked, I thought about the shepherds on that first Christmas morning. These men had witnessed angels singing in the night. They had followed up those angelic words and music by visiting the stable and had seen the baby Jesus, as is told in Luke 2:

"When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them."

   But what had happened to them next? They had become a brief footnote in history, a cameo appearance in the Christmas Story, but then what?

   These were real men, men who had a job to do, who probably had families at home and responsibilities as a man, yet were blessed with an opportunity, that they took, to stand in the presence of A King.

   What did they think?

   What did they tell their families?

   How about their neighbors?

   How did that one starry night change their lives, or did it?

   I've been reading a book about a fighter squadron in WWII. At the end of the body of that book is a list of men who had been mentioned in the story, and a brief resume of their lives and what had happened to them after that war ended.

   I want the same information about the shepherds, but there is no more mention of them, only more questions to ask.

   What did their lives look like after that night?

   When people are asked who they want to talk to in heaven, they mention the greats of the Bible like Moses or Paul and, of course, Jesus, but I think I might like to find those shepherds and hear "the rest of the story" from them.

   How 'bout You?