The greatest story of all time begins as silently as a single snowflake slowly drifting down into a quiet forest at midnight. "And in that region there were shepherds out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night." Imagine the feeling of those shepherds as the sky filled with angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." No wonder they "came to the manger with haste" and arriving there they found the Holy Family. On the faces of our Lord’s parents was wonder and reverence mixed with gratitude and joy.

In the Ozark Mountains, I am told, there is an old legend that at midnight on Christmas Eve the cattle kneel in adoration of the Savior who came into their stable so many years ago. A part of the legend, however, is that they will not kneel if any human being is watching. That, of course, makes the story safe from prying, scientific eyes. We shall never be able to prove it or disprove it with our senses. But isn’t that the way Christmas is ... an intimate and ultimate experience which is forever beyond the eyes of proud minds.

Only the cattle know if they really kneel to the Savior at midnight - as only we ourselves know in the deepest regions of our hearts whether we too are really there at the manger. Christmas is kneeling time for the entire earth as the eyes of faith-filled hearts look upon the only-begotten Son of the Father. And as we look, our hard and distraught faces melt into expressions of joy and adoration. For those who kneel at the manger rise again, filled with the love of God which brings peace and joy to their lives.