‘While shepherds watched their flock by night
all seated on the ground,
the angel [from on high] came down
and glory shone around.’
To shepherds then they told the news
of yet another born,
a shepherd like themselves to be,
their God in human form.
A shepherd born to guide and heal,
to shelter and to save,
to touch all human life with love
that shines beyond the grave;
a love that bears the gifts of life
unending, full and free;
that feeds and fills and overflows
though nailed upon a tree;
a love that has the power to do
no less than change the earth,
to harness human life and hope
in glorious, great new birth.
So glory be to God on high
and on the earth be peace.
Good will now floods from heaven to earth
whose flow will never cease.
Photo: stitchery at Wimborne Minster, UK — photo taken by Ana Gobledale
