NOTE: For this Advent season, my blog posts have taken a different turn. For the five weeks beginning December 4, i am posting five short stories surrounding the incarnational birth of Jesus. These stories are my gift to you — as faithful readers of this blog. If you missed last week’s post, i invite you to go back and read it. Though i will endeavor to keep each story factual as to the details conveyed through the Gospels – by their nature these stories will be fictional first person accounts involving both historical and fictional characters, as well as fictional details that have been incorporated into each narrative. My prayer is that, through the telling, we witness anew the glory of our Heavenly Father expressed through the incarnational birth of His One and Only Son. To that end, let’s look at the account through the eyes of these five very different individuals:
Joseph – A humble carpenter (December 4)
Achim – Joseph’s cousin (This week - December 11)
Moshe – A Bethlehem shepherd (December 18)
Simeon – An expectant prophet (December 25)
Balthazar – A Babylonian scholar (January 1)
My name is Achim. My family and I live here in Bethlehem – the town of our ancestor David – the shepherd king. Our town is situated in the midst of rolling green hills. Our hills produce some of the best almonds and olives throughout the province. The soil is fertile because we sit on top of an enormous aquifer. As a matter of fact, our water is known to be the best tasting from far and wide. The story is told that some of King David’s mighty men risked their lives by crossing through Philistine lines to get him a cup of this very water from a well situated here in Bethlehem….