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Good morning. The day before Christmas Eve causes me a slight sense of panic. There are presents still to get and often a sermon still to write. Christmas cards arrive from people I’m fond of but to whom I’ve not sent one. And it’s too late to do anything about it. When I fret about such things I feel ashamed since they’re so trivial compared with the troubles of the people of Aleppo, let alone those killed and injured at the Berlin Christmas Market and their families. But it was during their own Christmas preparations that the people in Berlin were struck down. Perhaps that’s why at the carol services I’ve attended this year the first words the shepherds hear in the nativity story seemed so powerful. Fear not. Don’t be afraid. There are lots of reasons for fear in the Christmas story. What couple wouldn’t be afraid when away from home with nowhere to stay, and with the wife heavily pregnant? Who wouldn’t be afraid with a tyrant like King Herod around? He has his equivalents in the world today. The traditional site of the shepherds’ fields is at Beit Sahour, just east of Bethlehem. Where peace on earth was proclaimed, as in many other parts of the world the present day realities of conflict are unmistakable. Jesus was born in occupied territory with a puppet king. His was a risky birth in a dangerous place. The Christmas story is about God living among us in our troubles, not arriving after our problems have been solved. That’s why Christians believe that God is with us when we’re ill or having a row, when we’re getting divorced or lonely. He isn’t simply to be experienced in the joys and delights of life. There’s a chapel in the shepherds’ fields at Beit Sahour. It was built in 1954 over a cave supposedly used by shepherds centuries ago. The chapel contains three paintings. The first shows the shepherds being told about the birth of Jesus, the second has them at the stable and the third depicts their return to the fields afterwards. A dog is prominent in each painting. There’s no mention of a dog in the gospels but who’s to say there wasn’t one? The dog looks terrified in the first painting, is very attentive at the stable and is dancing with joy on the return journey, ears pricked up, caught in mid-bark with tail wagging. After their visit to the infant Jesus the shepherds and their dog go back to their ordinary lives facing the same problems but with fresh joy and a new hope. Perhaps many of us this year need to hear the words with which their great adventure began. Fear not.