It All Began With A Smile

When the shepherds returned to their flocks
and the Wise Men embarked on a new home route,
when the curious had seen enough and the
bright star faded into an expansive starlit sky,
Mary held her son close
and sang him a lullaby.

He clutched her finger with his tiny hand
and watched her movements with large, dark eyes.
He felt the familiar rhythm of her heartbeat,
as if still joined flesh to flesh. Mary’s warm
breath soothed any anxiousness that came
with new surroundings and animal
sounds in the distance.

Tonight he would sleep on freshly cut hay,
snuggled close to his mother in the small
shed that usually housed newly born lambs.
The finest Bethlehem inn could not provide a more
restful setting. Just before the flickering
lamp was extinguished, a little lamb, wandering
from a nearby flock, walked into the shed,
paused for a moment to look all around,
then without hesitation, curled up beside
Mary and her infant, all seeking warmth
and finding complete contentment.

Within a moment or two, a little arm slipped
from the swaddling cloths and the tiny hand fell
gently onto the animal’s soft white wool.
The lamb relaxed into sleep and in the last
flicker of light from the lamp’s dying flame,
Mary’s eyes looked upon the face of her
beautiful son.
No sound was made, no words formed, but
their eyes joined and never moved
from the visual embrace of love.

Darkness descended,
Mary closed her eyes
and welcomed sleep.
It was then that —

Jesus smiled.