…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.”
Luke 2: 15
A herd of deer moved into our neighborhood this summer. They’re not into block parties, but now and then they traipse across the yard or creep down the road. Sometime when I walk in the morning, I hear twigs snap in the underbrush, or I see them gathered by the creek, or I surprise them on the road. But mostly, they hide in the woods and watch me stride by, oblivious and unknowing.
I want a picture of my neighbors, something to remind me of their presence. So every morning I take my camera on my walk. The deer have cooperated on several occasions, making enough noise for me to locate them in the woods, holding still long enough for me to find my camera and start shooting. But something always goes wrong: the deer hide in the shadows so the pictures are dark and fuzzy, the camera is on the wrong setting or the battery dies, a car barrels down the road and sends the deer running.
But I refuse to give up. Someday the conditions will be perfect, and I’ll photograph my shy, elusive neighbors in all their glory. When that happens, people will know because I’ll share the picture with everyone. No way will I keep quiet when the great day arrives. I’ll post the photo on my blog and on Facebook, then get an enlargement made and hang it somewhere at home.
Maybe my chance will come this December, even as the light grows weaker, the shadows deepen, and the cold intensifies. Such circumstances don’t hold much hope, but I’ll keep trying. After all, God once roused a bunch of lonely shepherds sitting on a hillside one dark night. He sent them to Bethlehem and showed Himself to them in a dirty stable, lying in a lowly manger. Not the circumstances anyone would pick for a press conference, much less for revealing the long-hidden face of God. But His methods proved effective. The shepherds left the manger with the picture of Jesus written large on their hearts. They went back to the hillside, glorifying and praising God for showing them the long hidden truth, the hope of all who believe.
Sometimes hidden things are best revealed in less-than-perfect circumstances. So I’ll keep carrying my camera on my morning walks. I’ll watch for my neighbors on these wintery mornings, and maybe I’ll get my deer picture yet. Stranger things have happened in out-of-the-way places, in the cold and in the dark. In one particular case, the results were eternally glorious.
