Deep Calls

" A voice is heard in Ramah,  weeping and great mourning,  Rachel weeping for her children  and refusing to be comforted,  because they are no more." Matthew 2:1-18 The old man stood in the shadows, leaning on the doorway, letting it bear his weight. He gazed at his wife as she sat in the corner of a now dark room. She held a small boy in her lap; she hummed and stroked his hair. He looked back over his shoulder, turning as the door opened.  "Oh Anna! You have come again. Thank you. "Is she going to be alright? I do not know   ...  I . . .              do not know.          ...  will any of us  ~ ever ~ be alright? This is a nightmare ~ we are all living in a nightmare! She sits and rocks him -- will not put him down. The first nights she slept by his bed ~ when she slept.  Thank you, Anna, thank you so much for coming. I could not leave her without knowing you were with her and John." "Such a child. See, he sits so st

Such a sweet couple...I won't forget them, that is sure! I wonder about them... I saw them last before the slaughter.  I wasn't there when they came. So much to do with the travelers and the Romans in and out. And Eli -- I could not believe! He put them in the stable!!!! Said he didn't even see she was with child ~ the LUNK!! He thought they looked tired, and just as he was about to turn them away, he thought of the stable. HUH! He could have put those camel drivers in the stable...how could he not have seen?? It was in the night...a funny night it was...it had been cold and drear all the week, but that night the stars shone so it looked almost like day. And there was music in the night ~ Eli said it was a dream, but I heard it clear as clear ... even above his snoring! It was in the night I found out about them. After the music, I heard a commotion in the yard, yammering and talking and the baaing of sheep. "oy! and what now??" We went, Eli and I -- thin

  "And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by...an angel of the Lord appeared to them ..." "I have always loved this view ~    the hills green, dotted with the sheep." "I especially love being here on this side when it is their night where I can look  up  into these stars.  It is so quiet for them -- such a silent night." "Look! The shepherds are asleep...hmmmm, well, mostly . . ." "Wait, there  -- see a few  -- there and there -- are on watch. Their eyes like eagles scan the darkness for shadows moving where they should not, but --" "We have no shadows!" They are a wonder ~ men ~ don't you think?" "Remember David, sitting there alone?" "Yes, just there  ~ with that harp, singing to his sheep, and to Him on all those dark nights." "He is to call Himself David's Son, you know. It is, I think --  it is for him, for David, that we greet these men with this ne

Pain subsiding. Breathing out, she opened her eyes and looked into his. His eyes were dark with concern, stormy with his fear for her, and for the baby. His jaw set. "No, Joseph. I am OK. They are  ~ well ~ not close." She turned her hand and held it to her belly, "There! See, he kicks and plays. We are fine." A solid smack hit squarely on Joseph's hand, making them both laugh. As she readjusted her seating, Joseph gripped the lead and lengthened his stride. "Not long now. We will be there before the nightfall. Then a room and a bed .... " She saw beyond the smile he gave with his mouth to the storm in his eyes. " Oh, he has more to carry than I."  She remembered their story in flashes : The first time she saw him, setting down a load of wood, to lift a tiny girl from the dust where she had fallen, his voice tender, his eyes soft. The first time she caught his eyes. She had looked up from the well into his eyes. The world had st

The Old Scroll "Alexi !!!  Here you are! When you were late to dinner ... again ... I finally came looking. I must say Sari is annoyed. She made lamb.  Reading the old scrolls again, Alexi...ALEXI!?" Looking up as if coming from a long way off and just now noticing his friend, "Ah Beltzi. . . .OH DINNER !!  I am sorry. I just meant to stop by for just a moment. Ahhh...its dark.!  Oh, I am so sorry! Come, is it too late? May we stop on the way? I must bring a gift to Sari to apologize." " ... and then the camels spit, right on the bundles ~ Alexi, are you even listening? Where are you? What has come over you lately?" "It is the scrolls, the old ones ... " "The scrolls? Again the scrolls? I love study as much as the next man, and I always thought MORE than you until ... what is it?" "I don't know, I swear they haunt me! I ... i dream of them. No, don't laugh ~ I do! I think of them all day and find no peace ti