A Shepherd In The Field

4 June 1962 Navy Chaplain Luis Padillo was giving last rites to dying soldiers as sniper fire surrounded him.  A wounded soldier pulled himself up by clinging to the priest's cassock, as bullets chewed up the concrete around them  Hector Rondon Lovera, who had to lie flat to avoid getting shot, later said that he was unsure how he managed to take this picture.  Normal Rockwell eerily used this photograph as a template for his Southern justice painting:  “ Murder in Mississippi “.

Have you wondered what happened after the Wise Men left Bethlehem?  It was such a long, tiring journey to find the child.  Tired, happy, sore, relieved. They walk in, with a knowing and their lives are changed.  If so, how?  After the akward greetings, the gifts, did they hold Jesus in their arms?  Did they give him a soft kiss?  Did they want to stay? Back on the journey to life, somehow changed?  Will they forgive, will they give, did they change the world in small ways that we feel today.  Did they set someone free because they were now free.  did they seek him once again?  Maybe a new journey, certainly a new life. Back home after holding Christ, somehow, I am different.