The Never Ending Story Part 2

First there were the shepherds. These boys remind me of those hooded youths you sometimes see on the street corners of your local estate. They were just hanging around and chilling with each other. People thought they were stuck in a rut, settled for second best and had no real ambitions to go further in life. Then they entered the story. They found themselves chosen and included in a bigger plan. They were given a sense of purpose and felt significant – maybe for the first time.


Then there were the wise men. They always remind me of those wise guys from Dragons Den. Everyone thought they were at the top of their game – a real success. Perhaps these guru’s thought they had it all figured out and didn’t really need anything from anyone. Then they entered the story. They found something they could all agree was worth investing in. In fact they were willing to risk it all and give up what they thought was their own wisdom to find the stuff that you can’t get by human invention – faith, hope and love.

And let’s not forget Joseph. I am not sure if you have ever seen that tattooed guy out of Prison Break but I have always seen Joseph a little bit like Michael Schofield from that show. You see he was an innocent man who found himself in a situation he didn’t plan for, it wasn’t his fault and Joseph could easily have felt imprisoned by his circumstances. But then he entered the story. Joseph found that he could overcome the prison of his own mind and didn’t play his “get out of jail card” when he found out his fiancée was pregnant. He learned to trust that his way of escape would not be found in trying to run away from responsibility but instead to allow destiny to mark his life like the most beautiful of tattoos on his skin.

Finally we see Mary. You might not see it at first but I am pretty sure she was a lot like Leona Lewis. You see she was from a neighbourhood that was considered the wrong side of the tracks. She looked down upon herself because of her age and lack of experience. She would always shyly ask herself who am I? What do I have to offer the world? What makes me special? Then she entered the story. And she found herself picked out from the crowd, chosen from millions of hopefuls. She was put through to the next round, no matter how good she felt she could be. She was given the chance to let her talent shine. And it turned out it would shine so brightly it would light up the whole world.

So what do we learn from these people? Well, you or I may have never seen an angel. You may have never followed a star across a desert. You may have never stayed overnight in a stable. But I bet like me at times you have felt like you were stuck, going nowhere fast. I bet like me, you have looked at the world of success and wondered if there was anything more. I bet, like me at times you have felt judged, labelled and a little bit insignificant. And I bet you have wondered and dreamed, like me, if there is still a chance of hope, a chance to be somebody and a chance to feel like you’re being alive could mean something to the world.

You see, that is what this nativity story is all about. When you think about the characters in the story they say something about the director of the whole show. It says something about the kind of people this director thinks are true stars. People like you and me. What if this story has even the slightest chance of being a documentary and not just a fantasy? Then perhaps we could remember this tale and its characters well beyond the month of December and maybe, just maybe, we could begin to find ourselves becoming part of this never ending story too.