“We just got orders from the higher-ups that we’re performing a concert over Bethlehem tomorrow night,” Comfort said to Joy. He had been the lead vocalist in the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra for years, and this was going to be his moment! He felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety. As he sat back in his office chair, he studied the instructions line by line.
A globe of the planet Earth sat on the corner of his desk for twirling when necessary. Sometimes, the angels needed to know where they would be dispatched, and the globe was a good reference. Comfort also had a solar system map on the wall, which included the five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.
“Bethlehem looks like it is a small town in a country named Israel,” Comfort explained.
“How are we going to prepare in time? It seems so last minute,” Joy said, as she stood by his desk. She fixed her angel wings and grabbed her trumpet. Then, she studied the globe. “God must know that we can be ready in a day!”
“It is last minute,” Comfort said. He looked over his sheet music for “Glory to God in the Highest.” His solo required a big vocal range, but he knew he could do it.
“We can sing a duet,” Joy said. “You’ll lead the choir, and I’ll lead the orchestra, just like we usually do . . .” The brother and sister angels had been in training for years.
“We’re technically plan B that became plan A,” Comfort said. “Originally, the Melody Makers Choir was on the schedule, but it fell through. We really need to prove ourselves!”
“What’s the occasion?” Joy said. “Oh, I remember now . . . something like God decided to send his Son to live on Earth, and this is his big entrance.”
Comfort took heart in knowing that God must have believed that they could succeed, despite the short notice. The two angels adorned themselves in pink and sky-blue robes and played their sparkling silver trumpets throughout the day. They also each knew how to play the harp, which was much harder than it looked.
“This is one of the most important evenings in history,” Gloria, the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra’s supervisor, said. “We have to sound better than the best!”
“We’re going to need to rehearse all night long,” Comfort said, as he warmed a mug of angel coffee in his office.
“I’m sounding the bell for rehearsal now!” Gloria said. “All Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra members to the Assembly Hall.”
The large, golden rehearsal bell rang all throughout the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra chamber, calling the angels to practice.
As the angels entered the hall, they whispered to one another, curious as to why they were called to practice in the middle of the night. Usually, they were given at least a few days’ notice for major events throughout the heavens.
“Now every angel, listen up!” Gloria said. She marched across the chamber with a clip board. “All your other duties are put on hold until we finish this concert. There will be shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Comfort and Joy will appear to them, and the glory of the Lord will shine around them, and they will be terrified. We’re going to have to do our best to help them not to be afraid. Every one of your angel wings needs to be ironed and trumpets need to be polished! After the glory shines, I gave Comfort and Joy a scroll to read. Go ahead, Comfort . . .”
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people,” Comfort said. He tried to memorize it. It was tricky, and he did not want to screw it up.
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Joy said. She rolled forward in the scroll and pointed out all the periods and pauses.
“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” Comfort said. He imagined how cute the baby would be. “Gloria, do you think we need that section about the sign? It might be overdoing it a bit,” he continued.
“Would you stick to the parchment?” Gloria said. “God wrote it. I can’t change it. It is essential to the Messiah’s identity. After your announcement, then suddenly our great company of heavenly host will appear with you and Joy, praising God and singing! Comfort and Joy, do you have down all the major instructions? If you do, then we can continue to the music.”
“Altos, sopranos, tenors, and basses! Every angel, focus!” Comfort said, as he directed the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra.
“The musicians can join in during the second verse. The first time should be a cappella,” Joy said. She handed out the music while she admired the strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections. However, most of the musicians played harps and trumpets. After the Angel Orchestra had a minute to review the song, they stood at their tallest with instruments ready.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests,” the Hallelujah Choir sang. Comfort got chills listening to the song.
“Wonderful!” Gloria announced. “Still needs a little work on phrasing and make sure to pronounce your consonants. After you are finished performing the song, ideally, the shepherds will hurry off and find Mary and Joseph, the baby’s parents, and the baby, who will be lying in the manger. When the shepherds see the baby, hopefully, they will spread the word concerning what had been told to them about the child by us. Of course, all who hear what the shepherds say to them will be amazed. I’m hoping the child’s mother will treasure all these things and ponder them in her heart. God willing, the shepherds will return to the fields, glorifying and praising God for what they have heard and seen. If they don’t, at least we tried. We did it for God.”
“Any questions?” Comfort said to the crowd of singers and musicians. “I will try to answer them for you!”
“If you can’t find an answer to your question, then there’s always the chance for a miracle,” Joy said. She giggled into her trumpet as Comfort rolled his eyes at her silly joke.
As the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra practiced into the wee hours of the morning and into the next afternoon. It took a little work, but “Glory to God in the Highest” eventually sounded heavenly. By the midnight hour on Christmas Eve, the angels were in place over Bethlehem. The town smelled of the best bread Comfort had ever imagined.
“The savior is going to be the bread of life,” Gloria explained to the choir and musicians. “This town makes a lot of bread, so God insisted that the child be born here. I know Bethlehem is a bit out of the way, but the location was important to the Lord. He said it has something to do with manna coming down out of heaven. I’ll see if we can find a way to take some bread from Bethlehem home with us.”
Before everyone got distracted by the bakery scents, Comfort interrupted.
“Everyone, remember your cues,” Comfort said. Gloria watched on the side of the orchestra and floated in the sky. Comfort had stopped her nose and her stomach from taking over her emotions.
“Look! Shepherds! There really are shepherds in the field,” Ariel, an angel in the alto section of the choir, whispered to her boyfriend named Angelo in the tenor section.
“Please be quiet!” Comfort said. “Keep focused on the performance.”
“Ssh! We’re not supposed to be talking! Peace! Be still and know,” Angelo said to Ariel. “Don’t get us into trouble!”
When Comfort and Joy suddenly appeared in the sky with the glory of God surrounding them in all its power, the shepherds stopped in place and shook in fear. The presence of God was so strong that Comfort could feel a holiness overtake him.
“Aaah! What’s in the sky? Strange beings! They’re going to kill us!” the shepherds said, and some of them ran for the hills.
“The scroll! Start now! Hurry!” Gloria yelled at Comfort and Joy.
“Do not be afraid,” Comfort said. He bellowed in his strongest voice.
At that, the sheep scattered, and the shepherds had dropped many of their crooks in the chaos of the event. By the time Comfort and Joy finished the scroll, some of the shepherds had stood still long enough to listen to the speech, followed by the performance of the song.
“Who wants to meet the Messiah?” Gloria asked through her bullhorn.
Without giving a proper response, the shepherds ran off as fast as they could. They took a few sheep with them but lost the rest in the terror.
“A complete failure,” Gloria said as she sat on a cloud in tears. “How could the shepherds be so afraid? The glory of God shone. We prepared the script. We practiced the song. What is wrong with them? We sacrificed so much for this! The shepherds have a distinct role to play in the baby’s birth. They are going to have to find him to tell others, or all is lost!”
Comfort and Joy flew across the sky to give Gloria a hug, and the rest of the angels stood in silence with disappointment. Somehow, everything was going to work together for the good.
“Maybe the shepherds will have time to think about the message and change course?” Comfort said. “God must have known that this would happen.”
“Tonight was a disaster!” Gloria said. “Why would God ever pick shepherds to help his son at a time like this? There must have been someone better suited for the task.”
“We are angels,” Joy said. “At least some of the shepherds were a little bit excited and listened to what we were saying!”
“Let’s just pack it up and go back to heaven,” Gloria said. “There’s not much else that we can do for now down here!”
“You go ahead. Joy and I will fly to the manger to see if the shepherds made it,” Comfort said. “Come on, Joy!”
“Of course, we’ll fly to the manger,” Joy said. She forced a smile with her pearly whites.
Comfort knew Joy tried to be hopeful after the shepherds’ disappointing exit. He also tried to believe that everything would come together, even if it seemed like a mess right now.
By the time Comfort and Joy found Mary and Joseph in the manger with the baby, the shepherds had just arrived. Comfort was almost speechless and stood in awe of God. A donkey, an ox, sheep, and camels surrounded the child and his family.
“I can barely believe my eyes!” Comfort said. He admired the gifts of three very wealthy wise men that sat next to the shepherds. “God must really know what He is doing.”
“This is why you need to have faith!” Joy said. “Even when you think everything is a failure, God has a purpose.”
“I need to trust in the Lord more than I usually do,” Comfort said. “I lean too much on my own understanding.”
“The shepherds must’ve talked about it and decided to go see what we told them about,” Joy said. She laughed out loud. “They will end up telling everyone about the Messiah, just like God wanted!”
Then, out of nowhere, Gloria landed in the middle of the manger with a basket of bread.
“He who has ears to hear! Let him hear! Do not be afraid! Did you hear me?” Gloria said. “I just got a word from God, and He said that we had not failed. He said we are right on track for the next big miracle.”
“Exactly!” Comfort said, as he flew in her direction. “Everything worked out!”
Comfort and Joy hugged Gloria together with relief as they admired the shepherds in the manger with the baby savior. His parents looked a bit confused at the commotion, but glad for the new friends by their side.
“God is going to ask us to do more performances now,” Joy said. “Yippee!”
“This time, we should try to prepare in advance and not wait until the last minute,” Comfort said. “But sometimes God just does things suddenly!”
“I need a raise,” Gloria said. “I deserve a promotion and a vacation!”
Every year from that year on, Gloria took her annual vacation at Christmas, and Comfort and Joy were put in charge to spread the Christmas spirit. The shepherds ended up telling about the birth of the Savior all over the world, and everyone knew about the beautiful music of the Hallelujah Choir and Angel Orchestra.
Copyright 2016 Jennifer Waters
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