The Shepherds’ Play is a medieval mystery play that my kids grew up with in the Eugene Waldorf School. Teachers and community members play the parts, and the whole school community turns out for it. The play is funny and earnest, with the angel overseeing the drama, and the unwitting shepherds (the most human of humans) being the first to glimpse the face of the sacred.

The play opens and closes with the players singing these words—

Bless O Lord the way we tread,
Bless our comings and our goings;
Bless likewise our daily bread,
Bless our leavings and our doings.
Bless our death with thy death’s leaven,
That to us thy life be given.