According to folklore, the animals speak at midnight on Christmas Eve. Each tells of the gift it gave the infant Jesus in the manager. According to the carol, “Joy to the World,” fields and flocks, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, and heaven and nature sing!
All of creation is transformed by God’s gift to us. Not just a few people who gather in church on Christmas, but the whole world, people from every land, and the earth itself are being made new. Such are the wonders of God’s love.
This message was adapted from “Devotions for the 12 Days of Christmas” by Lois Pallmeyer that appeared in the December 1997 issue of Lutheran Woman Today magazine now Gather magazine.