Day 5: Shepherds in the Nursery

 Kids Corner: Read Luke 2:8-20
In the Gospel of Luke, shepherds are called to the manger. (THIS is who God chose)
Homeless shepherds near the bottom of the socio-economic spectrum. 
These shepherds fed God’s sheep.
and showed others the way to Christ.

 

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Reflection by Mary Beth Mutarelli...

      In the late 1960’s, my cousin and I were the teen nursery workers at our Methodist church. At that time, most of the church membership was a homogeneous group of economically-comfortable professionals.  Though the church was located  in the midst of a struggling inner city neighborhood, I don’t recall seeing any of these nearby residents at our church. 

     That is, until the Sunday that Alice brought her baby girl to our nursery, while she attended church.  Alice and the baby were clean, but it was immediately evident that they were economically-deprived.  Instead of a cute, embroidered diaper bag, Alice packed her baby’s necessities in a grocery bag.  Instead of Pampers, her baby’s cloth diapers were gray in color, and rough to the touch. Their clothing (Alice’s and the baby’s) was well-worn.  

Over the weeks that she faithfully attended our church, Alice shared a bit about her life.  Her husband was a cab driver, and they also had a young son who attended the toddler nursery.  She must have lived right in the neighborhood, because she walked everywhere she needed to go.  I never met her husband, and I assumed he was working.  One Sunday, Alice told me that the little boy had just been baptized.  She said she was so happy and proud  that her husband was in church that Sunday.  I listened to her with half an ear, and cringed at her grammatical errors.

The other mothers in our nursery were also a bit uncomfortable or uneasy with Alice.  I found myself becoming  judgmental and critical of her appearance, quick to make an unkind comment to my cousin about the grayish diapers or the unstylish diaper/ grocery bag.

    Then God sent the Holmans into the nursery!  Mr. and Mrs. Holman, though childless themselves, took an interest in Alice and her children.  They stopped in the nursery every Sunday to greet Alice, and to interact with the baby.  They treated her with such love and respect, giving her conversation their full attention.  Gradually, and subtly, their actions changed the way I perceived Alice.  I found myself trying  to understand what her daily life might have been like, and even thinking about the challenges she faced.  I realized that she probably washed the diapers by hand because she had no washer and dryer.  Even the coin laundry might have been out of her reach.  I started to see all the ways she was a good mother, and to recognize her devotion to her baby.  Gradually my focus on the exterior “stuff” faded, and I started to see Alice, the person.

Shepherds and animals--drawn by one of our preschoolers

     The Holmans never said a word to me about how to treat Alice with love, or how a Christian should show hospitality. Their “Christianity in action” spoke volumes, and penetrated the shell around the self-absorbed teenager I was.  They had a profound influence on me, but I never told them.  In fact, years passed before I fully recognized how they helped me to open the eyes of my heart. The Holmans taught me to accept, love, and respect the poor shepherds who have every right to stand in the manger scene, but they also—in their gentle, shepherding way—“made known what had been told them about Jesus; and all who heard it were amazed.” It was Alice and the Holmans who helped show me the way to the manger.