GIAÂY PHUÙT DIEÄU KYØ
VINH QUANG TRONG BÌNH THÖÔØNG
Coù moät chöõ moâ taû caûnh ñeâm Ngaøi ñaõ ñeán - "bình thöôøng."
Baàu trôøi bình thöôøng. Ngoïn gioù luøa lay ñoäng nhöõng chieác laù vaø öôùp laïnh khoâng gian. Muoân vaøn ngoâi sao kim cöông laáp laùnh treân taám nhung ñen. Töøng ñôït maây löõng lôø qua maët nguyeät.
Moät ñeâm tuyeät ñeïp - moät ñeâm ñaùng cho Baïn heù cöûa soå phoøng nguû ñeå ngaém nhìn - thaät ra khoâng phaûi moät ñeâm baát thöôøng. Khoâng lyù do gì ñeå chôø ñôïi söï baát ngôø. Khoâng ñieàu naøo giöõ moät ngöôøi tónh giaác. Moät ñeâm bình thöôøng vôùi moät baàu trôøi bình thöôøng.
Baày chieân cuõng bình thöôøng. Moät soá maäp. Moät soá oám. Moät soá vôùi buïng to nhö thuøng röôïu. Moät soá vôùi ñoâi chaân khaúng khiu. Nhöõng con thuù bình thöôøng. Khoâng boä loâng chieân baèng vaøng. Khoâng moät nhaø laøm söû. Khoâng ngöôøi thaéng giaûi baêng xanh. Chuùng ñôn sô laø nhöõng con tröøu - loá nhoá, nhöõng boùng ñen ñang nguû treân söôøn ñoài.
Vaø nhöõng muïc ñoàng. Chuùngï laø daân queâ. Coù theå maëc taát caû nhöõng aùo quaàn hoï coù. Xoâng muøi gioáng nhö chieân vaø troâng chuùngï nhö loâng chieân. Chuùng taän tuïy, muoán qua ñeâm cuøng baày chieân mình. Nhöng Baïn seõ khoâng tìm ñöôïc caây tröôïng cuûa chuùng trong moät vieän baûo taøng hoaëc vaên phaåm cuûa chuùngï trong moät thö vieän. Khoâng ai hoûi quan ñieåm cuûa chuùng veà coâng lyù xaõ hoäi hay aùp duïng Kinh Torah. Chuùng voâ danh vaø moäc maïc.
Moät ñeâm bình thöôøng vôùi nhöõng con chieân bình thöôøng cuøng nhöõng muïc ñoàng bình thöôøng. Vaø neáu chuùng khoâng ñöôïc duøng bôûi moät Thöôïng Ñeá laø Ñaáng yeâu thích theâm moät "phuï troäi" vaøo caùi bình thöôøng, thì ñeâm ñoù coù theå ñaõ qua ñi khoâng ai chuù yù. Nhöõng con chieân coù theå ñaõ bò laõng queân, vaø caùc muïc ñoàng coù theå ñaõ nguû vuøi suoát ñeâm.
Song Thöôïng Ñeá ñaõ khieâu vuõ giöõa ñaùm bình daân. Vaø ñeâm ñoù Ngaøi thaät ñaõ bieåu dieãn moät vuõ ñieäu waltz.
Baàu trôøi ñen böøng daäy röïc rôõ. Taøng caây laø nhöõng boùng toái baây giôø nhaûy vaøo aùnh saùng. Nhöõng con chieân töøng im laëng nay thaønh hôïp ca hieáu kyø. Moät phuùt gaõ muïc ñoàng nguû say nhö cheát, phuùt sau duïi maét ñaêm nhìn ngöôøi khaùch laï.
Ñeâm ñoù khoâng coøn bình thöôøng.
Thieân söù ñeán trong ñeâm, bôûi khi ñoù aùnh saùng ñöôïc thaáy roõ raøng nhaát, vaø khi ñoù aùnh saùng caàn thieát nhaát. Thöôïng Ñeá ñi vaøo ñaùm bình daân bôûi nguyeân nhaân naày.
Caùc duïng cuï maïnh meõ nhaát cuûa Ngaøi laø nhöõng duïng cuï ñôn sô nhaát.
ONE INCREDIBLE MOMENT
THE GLORY IN THE ORDINARY
There is one word that describes the night He came - ordinary.
The sky was ordinary. An occasional gust stirred the leaves and chilled the air. The stars were diamonds sparkling on black velvet. Fleets of clouds floated in front of the moon.
It was a beautiful night - a night worth peeking out your bedroom window to admire - but not really an unusual one. No reason to expect a surprise. Nothing to keep a person awake. An ordinary night with an ordinary sky.
The sheep were ordinary. Some fat. Some scrawny. Some with barrel bellies. Some with twig legs. Common animals. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners. They were simply sheep - lumpy, sleeping silhouettes on a hillside.
And the shepherds. Peasants they were. Probably wearing all the clothes they owned. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly. They were conscientious, willing to spend the night with their flocks. But you won't find their staffs in a museum nor their writings in a library. No one asked their opinion on social justice or the application of the Torah. They were nameless and simple.
An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.
But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz.
The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.
The night was ordinary no more.
The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason.
His most powerful tools are the simplest.