It wasn’t about me at all. I just happened to be there when it all took place, but I still think it’s significant that I was – I mean, who would be better at welcoming this child into the world than me? I am the ideal candidate – innocent, warm and quite young myself.
They had arrived late that same evening, the man with his young wife. They looked so lost in the middle of the street as they stood there, hoping there would be space for them in the guestroom at the back of the house but finding other relatives had already been given a bed for the night. That’s when he pointed to her obvious… ahem… state… and the owner of the house, some 3rd cousin many times removed opened the door and let them in to the courtyard below the living quarters. That’s where I was born too – in the warmth of the animal enclosure, not far from the stone feeding trough that he is in now, the baby.
They found her a comfortable enough corner, and since I was only little, I was allowed to stand quite close when eventually, this little boy was bundled up in cloths and placed on her chest for a while. She looked exhausted, yet radiant. He just looked small, but so peaceful there in the middle of everything, asleep, unaware of the circumstances he had been born into: Romans everywhere, people everywhere ready to be counted, and us everywhere too – my mum, my friends – all us animals of whom I am the youngest, born only a few months ago myself, all woolly and white. My mum always says I am the perfect lamb.
He is still sleeping, right there in the middle of everyone’s breakfast. He looks so innocent, so very new – and very vulnerable too. I wonder what will become of him. Maybe he will grow up to be a shepherd like those people who turned up not long ago to visit. How strange of them to leave their flocks on the hillside to come and see this little one – as if they had been looking for him and had missed him before he was even born. Yes, maybe the little one will become a shepherd. If he does, I will be a good sheep and follow his voice. He seems to carry peace with him in his very being, like still waters, like green pastures, like the still of heaven itself in one place, in one person.
It was a complete coincidence that I was there that night, but I hope I helped keep him warm.