It's inevitable we rush head on full throttle into the holidays. Malls are crammed with impatient people standing in line with their arms full of useless crap, drivers circle the parking lot honking at pedestrians, paying no attention to other cars pulling into and out of spaces, pharmacy prescriptions sales for Xanax, Valium, and other anti depressants, anti-anxiety medications double and triple. (Disclaimer: I understand the need for prescription medication for those who are clinically depressed or anxious) All of this hustle and bustle and and people losing their spirits has me wondering Were Joseph and Mary this stressed? Consider this:
From Joseph's perspective he had a fiancee who was pregnant and not by him. Not only is she pregnant but she's carrying the son of God, so essentially he's going to be the step father for the son of God. Now King Herod in his acute paranoia has ordered that all males must register themselves and their families in the cities of their ancestors. So Joseph has to take his VERY pregnant wife on a donkey hundreds of miles to the city of David, hoping she doesn't go into labor along the way. From Mary's perspective she's pregnant, not married which in those days could've gotten her killed if Joseph had chosen not to go through with the marriage. Now she has to ride on the back of a donkey for hundreds of miles. On top of all of this she had a vision which told her she was carrying the Son of God in her womb. They finally arrive at their destination and low and behold there's no rooms available and they're allowed to stay in a stable. To top it all off Mary goes into Labor. talk about stressful.
Centuries later, the Jews (remember Mary and Joseph were Jews, Christianity didn't come along until after their son grew up and eventually died) Antiochus IV the king over Syria, Egypt and Palestine who not only put a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, but also desecrated the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. The Jews rebelled and won and rededicated their temples. Now however, they faced another problem, there was only enough oil to light the candles on the altar for one day and it took 8 to make more oil for the candle.
So both the Jewish and Christian religions have these traditions of people who were under an incredible amount of stress. One wonders though with no Xanax, Valium, other anti depressants, and anti anxiety medications,etc. How did they get by? All the nativity scenes we see are of Mary and Joseph serenely looking at Jesus who's all nice and cleaned and wrapped up even with the shepherds and wise men are "stopping by" to see the baby. Meanwhile, in the story of Chanukah the oil that was supposed to last one day lasted 8 giving the Jews time to make more oil for the candle. What's their secret? How did the Jews not stress about the light on the altar going out, how did Mary and Joseph deal with those "unexpected guests" let alone being the parents of Jesus.
There may be some practical somewhat scientific answers of course. Mary actually had a midwife present and was given herbs to make the birth easier (an ancient herbal equivalent to an epidural). The Jews actually had more oil than they first thought or that has been recorded.
The more mystical answer, though the harder one to live up to is they had faith. Faith that God would provide for them somehow. Now faith might seem easy for Mary and Joseph after all, she was "allegedly" carrying the son of God if that is your belief as it is mine as a Christian then you figure no way God was going to let anything happen to his son. Faith may even seem easy for the Jews in the Temple, after all they were in what they consider to be God's house so by extension God should provide for them as well. We practice small acts of faith every day. We have faith that we will wake up each morning after we go to sleep. We have faith that we're most likely be able to live out our activities of daily living relatively uneventfully. we send our kids off to school having faith that they'll return home safely.
So what do you do when your faith is shaken. When you hear about parents sending their kids off to school only to be shot and killed by someone, when you hear about how many veterans are homeless, jobless and in many cases just not the same in any way shape or form mentally or physically. When you hear about the throw away foster kids in our child care system who are left on their own when they turn 18. Who are left alone even before that abandoned by their parents. You hug your family close thanking God it's not you. You may make a small donation to a charity or volunteer for a few hours at some non-profit.
Then there are those who become what our minister referred to in one sermon long ago as faith in action. You hear about them sometimes, a Vietnam veteran taking a veteran from Afghanistan to a veterans support group, someone decides to adopt a child or become a foster parent themselves, they get down their old military uniform and stand guard outside their child's school.
From Joseph's perspective he had a fiancee who was pregnant and not by him. Not only is she pregnant but she's carrying the son of God, so essentially he's going to be the step father for the son of God. Now King Herod in his acute paranoia has ordered that all males must register themselves and their families in the cities of their ancestors. So Joseph has to take his VERY pregnant wife on a donkey hundreds of miles to the city of David, hoping she doesn't go into labor along the way. From Mary's perspective she's pregnant, not married which in those days could've gotten her killed if Joseph had chosen not to go through with the marriage. Now she has to ride on the back of a donkey for hundreds of miles. On top of all of this she had a vision which told her she was carrying the Son of God in her womb. They finally arrive at their destination and low and behold there's no rooms available and they're allowed to stay in a stable. To top it all off Mary goes into Labor. talk about stressful.
Centuries later, the Jews (remember Mary and Joseph were Jews, Christianity didn't come along until after their son grew up and eventually died) Antiochus IV the king over Syria, Egypt and Palestine who not only put a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, but also desecrated the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. The Jews rebelled and won and rededicated their temples. Now however, they faced another problem, there was only enough oil to light the candles on the altar for one day and it took 8 to make more oil for the candle.
So both the Jewish and Christian religions have these traditions of people who were under an incredible amount of stress. One wonders though with no Xanax, Valium, other anti depressants, and anti anxiety medications,etc. How did they get by? All the nativity scenes we see are of Mary and Joseph serenely looking at Jesus who's all nice and cleaned and wrapped up even with the shepherds and wise men are "stopping by" to see the baby. Meanwhile, in the story of Chanukah the oil that was supposed to last one day lasted 8 giving the Jews time to make more oil for the candle. What's their secret? How did the Jews not stress about the light on the altar going out, how did Mary and Joseph deal with those "unexpected guests" let alone being the parents of Jesus.
There may be some practical somewhat scientific answers of course. Mary actually had a midwife present and was given herbs to make the birth easier (an ancient herbal equivalent to an epidural). The Jews actually had more oil than they first thought or that has been recorded.
The more mystical answer, though the harder one to live up to is they had faith. Faith that God would provide for them somehow. Now faith might seem easy for Mary and Joseph after all, she was "allegedly" carrying the son of God if that is your belief as it is mine as a Christian then you figure no way God was going to let anything happen to his son. Faith may even seem easy for the Jews in the Temple, after all they were in what they consider to be God's house so by extension God should provide for them as well. We practice small acts of faith every day. We have faith that we will wake up each morning after we go to sleep. We have faith that we're most likely be able to live out our activities of daily living relatively uneventfully. we send our kids off to school having faith that they'll return home safely.
So what do you do when your faith is shaken. When you hear about parents sending their kids off to school only to be shot and killed by someone, when you hear about how many veterans are homeless, jobless and in many cases just not the same in any way shape or form mentally or physically. When you hear about the throw away foster kids in our child care system who are left on their own when they turn 18. Who are left alone even before that abandoned by their parents. You hug your family close thanking God it's not you. You may make a small donation to a charity or volunteer for a few hours at some non-profit.
Then there are those who become what our minister referred to in one sermon long ago as faith in action. You hear about them sometimes, a Vietnam veteran taking a veteran from Afghanistan to a veterans support group, someone decides to adopt a child or become a foster parent themselves, they get down their old military uniform and stand guard outside their child's school.
