A very long time ago, long before anybody on earth today was born,

there was no Christmas season -- no gaily decorated Christmas trees,

no yuletide gift-giving, no carolers singing on a snowy December

night. That's because it was a time before the birth of Jesus in a

lowly stable in Bethlehem.

 

There was such a thing as Heaven, of course, the home of glorious

angels who sailed the skies on beautiful white-feathered wings. They

wore long, flowing white gowns, and their golden hair fell in waves

and curls down their backs.

 

Small angels watching bigger angels dance and play music in the sky.

In heaven, the big angels danced in the sky. The Littlest Angel

was just learning how to fly.

 

They were tall, strong and swift... all except the Littlest Angel, who

was tiny, with short, curly blonde locks. She had just got her wings

and was only now learning to fly. One day, Archangel Gabriel made an

important announcement. "Tonight," declared Gabriel in a ringing

voice, "we fly to earth to honor the birth of the Prince of Peace! We

will sing hymns throughout the world, giving tidings of great joy!"

 

The Littlest Angel jumped up and down with excitement. Tonight was the

night she had heard so much about! For weeks, the big angels had been

planning a splendid celebration. Would she be allowed to go along? The

Littlest Angel's singing voice was still weak, but she had a worse

problem: She couldn't fly as fast as the others. It did not look promising

 

"Unless I get a head start," she thought, and this cheered her up. "If

I go now, I'll be in Bethlehem before the others get there. Won't they

be surprised to see me!"

 

At that moment, the Littlest Angel happened to be strolling beside

Heaven's crystal sea. On the shore grew thousands of starflowers with

their golden centers and five pearl-white petals. Starflowers were

valued on earth as a sign of hope and would surely make a lovely gift

for the newborn infant. So the Littlest Angel gathered a bunch and

stuck them inside the sash of her robe.

 

It was time to test her wings in a way they'd never been tested

before. The Littlest Angel climbed atop the highest cloud, then

jumped! Miraculously, her baby wings spread wide, and the Littlest

Angel glided in the bright air. Now the wings began to beat, and she

aimed for planet Earth down below.

 

When the Littlest Angel landed, she looked around. Where did Bethlehem

lie? The sun was setting, and there was no one in sight. But then in

the distance she saw a village with houses of mud brick and stone, so

she headed down the dirt road toward it.

 

On the way, the Littlest Angel heard a pitiful sound from a nearby

olive tree. A mother dove was cooing sadly from a high branch. Below,

her baby, which had fallen from its nest, was struggling to fly but

with no success. It was too young. The Littlest Angel picked up the

birdling.

 

"You poor thing," she said. Up the Littlest Angel flew and settled the

little dove gently in the nest. The mother thanked her with all her

heart. A starflower fell from the Littlest Angel's sash and landed

where the dove had fallen. Suddenly, a bell rang out through the

winter evening.

 

The Littlest Angel came to a one-room hut and peered inside a window.

There sat a careworn young mother watching over her little son, who

slept fitfully in a cradle. The Littlest Angel could see the child's

skin was hot and damp, and tendrils of hair clung to his cheeks and

forehead. The mother rocked the cradle and wept softly to herself.

 

The child opened his feverish eyes and smiled as the Littlest Angel

tiptoed in. The angel laid a cool hand on the boy's forehead, and the

fever went away instantly. Soon the child closed its eyes and slept

soundly.

 

As the Littlest Angel walked back through the door, a few starflowers

fell from her sash, and a second bell rang out. It had grown dark, so

she left the village and continued down the road. The Littlest Angel's

wings ached too much to fly. She had no idea where she was headed, and

she was so tired that she almost forgot why she had visited earth in

the first place.

 

She was lost, too. Where was Bethlehem? The Littlest Angel seemed no

nearer to the end of her journey than when she began, and she now had

only a single starflower left. This troubled her. "What will happen if

I lose this, too?" she thought. "I'll have nothing to give Jesus."

 

As if to make matters worse, the Littlest Angel stubbed her toe on a

stone in the road. She hopped around, holding her injured foot.

Suddenly overhead, a host of angels flew past, singing "Glory to God

in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will!" "Oh, no!"

cried the Littlest Angel. "I'm too late!"

 

A short time later, the Littlest Angel heard the sound of bleating

nearby. In the bushes beside the road lay a little lamb that had

broken its foreleg. She took pity on the suffering creature and

gathered it up in her arms. "Come with me to Bethlehem," said the

angel, "that is, if I can ever find it!" The last starflower slipped

unnoticed from her sash and fell in the dirt road. A third bell rang

out through the night.

 

The Littlest Angel carried her pitiful burden down the road, and it

seemed to get heavier and heavier. Her arms and legs were sore with

fatigue. At the moment that she thought she might have to stop and

rest, the Littlest Angel glimpsed light shining from far off. The

closer it got, the more it seemed to be coming from a stable. "Well

stop there," whispered the Littlest Angel, for the lamb had fallen

asleep in her arms.

 

When the angel and her little lamb got within a short distance of the

stable, they were greeted by the most amazing sights and sounds. On

the ground, several people had gathered. They were mostly poor and

humble, but three men bearing costly gifts rode camels and were

dressed in rich robes.

 

The people were oddly quiet, but every now and then the Littlest Angel

heard hushed words being spoken in strange languages. Overhead in the

velvet darkness flew scores of angels in a fiery blaze of light. Some

were singing hymns, while others played shiny brass horns.

 

High above shone a single star, brighter and steadier than any the

Littlest Angel had ever seen The Littlest Angel walked through the

stable's bright doorway and was so astonished by what she saw that she

nearly dropped the lamb.

 

There, in the straw, sat a pale but beautiful young woman holding a

newborn infant in her arms. A bearded man wearing robes dusty from

travel looked on. The Littlest Angel knew at once that she was in the

presence of Jesus and his parents, Mary and Joseph. She laid the lamb

in the straw and reached for her last starflower, but it wasn't there!

 

Mary smiled lovingly on the Littlest Angel. "I know what you're

thinking," she said sweetly, "but you have brought a far greater

gift... a creature in need." The baby Jesus reached out and, with his

dimpled hand, touched the lamb's broken leg. Instantly the animal

leaped up and frisked about.

 

"Not only that," added Mary, "but your good deeds have caused the

Chime of Love to ring out three times tonight. Because of this, I ask

that you visit every year and bring this music to people of good will."

 

The Littlest Angel was overjoyed. Such an important responsibility for

one so little! She flew back to Heaven in a burst of speed. And every

Christmas, you'll hear this magical bell ring out... that is, if

you've been kind and good throughout the year!

--Unknown