Enduring Principle: Pursuit of Peace (Shalom)

Type: Monologue

Characters:

A teenaged boy or young adult

Props: None

Costumes: Period costume – A shepherd during the birth of Christ

Special Instructions: A Christmas monologue

It was the night I seriously argued with my father. Sure. Maybe it was the usual, but he just didn't understand. I don't know if I want to do this, to do what he does. The sheep are all right and I like being a protector. But I didn't feel like I belonged. Anywhere. I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. You know what that's like? To feel like you're out of place, out of step. To feel clumsy when you're really not? And it's like he just didn't understand. All he saw, was me not making my way. I ... I just felt like I didn't belong anywhere. And, frankly, I didn't like my father very much ... because he didn't understand. It's like he didn't care.

But then that night something happened. I didn't see it myself. My father didn't either, but his friends did. They said that an angel came to them and there was a kind of light all around them. They said that they were afraid at first, but the angel told them that there's no need for fear, but tonight was a night of joy, of wondrous joy. That angel said that to us is born a savior in the city of David, Christ the Lord. The messiah. The messiah! And that the shepherds would find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And then right after, the heavens opened up and a whole lot of angels came and said "Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace, goodwill to men."

I wish I had seen it. I wish I could have seen it. But I didn't. His friends asked my father to watch the sheep while they went to find the baby. So he was going to do that but he woke me up and told me to go along with him. I was pretty cranky. I mean, it seems like my father is always telling me what to do. And waking up in the middle of the night isn't exactly my favorite thing, you know. But I went.

We found the baby. The savior. The Christ. I came back. I came running back to my father and I told him. Well, I tried to. But I couldn't ... it was an experience, you know? I tried ... I tried though. I told him I belonged. I saw the child and I belonged. I told him I saw the messiah. The Christ. He's right here, right now! Right now! And you know what? He believed me. My father believed me! And he never actually saw any of it! He believed in the Christ without actually seeing him. At that moment I saw my father for who he really is. He believed me, he believed in me, and I looked in his eyes and I saw him differently ... his compassion ... his love. He believed me! I'll tell you, I couldn't have a better father. Nobody can. I'm the luckiest kid in the world.

© 2008 Debra Bruch