And there were shepherds in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night...

I see shepherds on a weekly basis- herding their sheep and goats down the street, through the McDonalds parking lot, and in the valleys outside the city. Cars at honk for them to move out of the way, their shabby beards match the dirty wool of the animals, and while they push and beat their sheep through upscale neighborhoods, their education and status is far beneath that of the Arab families that live around me. In the city shepherds are a nuisance, and in the surrounding desert, they are simple people on a continual search for water, traveling from oasis to oasis over dirt and stony paths.

This holiday season when I read Luke 2, I have a new understanding.