HERE WE ARE ONCE MORE AT THE HOOTING OWL , THE INN WHERE STORIES ARE TOLD

It's the season when we look for something special in the air, mystery, eternity entering into our world. So if your world is in the north, take a seat in the snug by the fire. If you live in a southern world, spread  a rug on the lawn. The Hooting Owl is wherever you are and we have a story for you.

LIGHT ON DARK MOUNTAIN

It was dusk on a mid-winter evening when Tansy ran away.

The field gate was mysteriously open and I could just make out her footprints in the snow. She was heading for Dark Mountain and I had to get her back. Mine was a solitary life beneath the mountain and away from the village folk.  The truth is, that little donkey was the only friend I had.

 Hour after hour I climbed, battling the icy wind. At first the beam from my torch only followed donkey hoofs. But then other tracks began to appear, hoofs and paws of every kind. Who were all these creatures and what were they doing here, trekking up Dark Mountain in the middle of the night?

 Faintly I heard music and saw a halo of light. The night no longer seemed so cold and the climb was not so hard.

Then, in a single moment, the mountainside was transformed. Menorahs, kinaras and Christmas candles cast their shimmering glow to the skies. The stars were spinning, angels were singing and children of every race were dancing together in the snow and singing the angels’ song.

Peace on earth.

Peace on earth.

Lovingkindness, and harmony,

Laughter, compassion, forgiveness,

Understanding and joy,

Peace on earth.

Let there be Peace on earth.

Now and forevermore.

There were reindeer dancing with them, camels and wildebeest, squirrels and possums and elephants, mountain lions and kangaroos, foxes, tigers and little lambs, monkeys and chimpanzees. And one little donkey named Tansy, the happiest dancer of all.

I stood on that mountainside and watched as heaven and earth became one. And I wondered if what happened on Dark Mountain could happen throughout the world.

 Just as it came, it all faded away, leaving Tansy and I there alone. The night had turned dark and cold again as I led my donkey home.

But what was coming towards us? Light glowed in the darkness again. This time no heavenly vision, yet just as comforting.

A dozen or more of the villagers held their lanterns on high as they stumbled through the snow. Eagerly they called out to us and rushed to greet Tansy and me.

“We came to wish you happy holiday, but we didn’t know where you were! There was no light shining from your window. You didn’t answer your door. We were worried, so we came looking for and saw your prints in the snow.”

And there I was, the friendless one, warmly wrapped up in hugs and smiles.  What I had seen on Dark Mountain was a vision of what can be. But what waited for me down below, was the start of reality.