The Fisherman's Son Who Came Home

Maria Constantinou had not slept a full night in fourteen months. Not since her son Dimitri's fishing boat vanished in a storm off the coast of Crete in October of 1987. The Greek coast guard called off the search after nine days. Neighbors brought casseroles and condolences. The priest said the memorial prayers. Everyone in the village of Elounda had moved on — everyone except Maria, who still left the porch light on every evening.

She was hanging laundry on a Tuesday morning when a neighbor came running up the gravel path, waving his arms and shouting words she could not yet make sense of. He was laughing and crying at the same time. Dimitri was alive. A Libyan fishing crew had rescued him. He was calling from a hospital in Benghazi, asking for his mother.

Maria dropped the bedsheet into the dirt. Her hands trembled. The news was too large for her body to hold.

The shepherds on that Judean hillside knew that same holy overwhelm. They were ordinary men doing thankless night work when an angel tore open the darkness with news too magnificent for the moment: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord."