The woman was heavy laden with child, and her husband looked at her with concern. Of course, he had to go. The census was mandatory. As he regarded his wife, he knew the journey would not be easy.
What is a few hundred miles or kilometers today? Catch a train to Hamburg from Frankfurt, Germany, and you arrive in four and a half hours, a plane ride from Augusta to Atlanta, Georgia is fifty-five minutes. However, this man did not have these comforts. His Mercedes-Benz was a donkey.
He observed his wife as he pondered over the trip ahead. Leaving her behind was not a consideration; in her was the hope of the nations, the salvation of the human race, and a shiver went through him as he thought of what could happen ahead. Thieves and robbers on the route and a desert where the temperature dropped at night were between the two cities, and ninety miles on a donkey was not a one-day ride. He figured he might be able to travel 10 miles a day, but even that would be hard considering that she was heavily pregnant with child.
Today the significance of this event has been revised; the hardship erased. The importance of this Child’s birth has fallen into abnormality.
Soon, it is Christmas.
For me personally, it is the time when I reflect backward to that birth in Bethlehem with Thanksgiving in my heart.
His birth changed History;
His birth changed my life and gave me a vision with purpose;
The Son of God came to earth so that I could have the right to be accepted in the Beloved.
Merry Christmas to you,
Buon Natale a te,
Joyeux Noël à toi,
Frohe Weihnachten zu Ihnen,
Feliz Navidad a usted.
Shalom Aleichem,
Pat Garcia
We take so much for granted about how hard things must have been for Mary and Joseph yet we complain about our slight inconveniences as if our lives depended on it! And Mary's did! She didn't have a midwife with her, and what did Joseph know about delivering a baby, especially in the worst of conditions? Thoughts we don't think. The smell in the manger must have been awful, animals coming too close must have been frightful! Yet she endured and gave birth to the Savior of the world! Thank you, Mary and Joseph for being obedient. Thanks, Pat, great post! Love and Merry Christmas to you, Deirdre
ReplyDeleteMy Dear Deirdre,
DeleteHow right you are. We do take so much for granted. We forget life essential things like the birth of the Savior. Without Him, we would have no Christmas and that would be a horror.
Shalom,
Pat
Well done, Patricia. I have often thought, in recent years, about that very pregnant woman riding across the desert on a donkey at night. The birth was meant to be.
ReplyDeleteA few years I attended a Christmas Eve candlelight service at our Episcopal church across the street from my home. The minister or pastor, a woman, educated at a Lutheran seminary, gave a sermon from just this perspective. How refreshing, that from a woman's perspective, and how true. Thank you. Shalom
Hello My Dear Friend,
DeleteThank you for dropping by and sharing this very poignant thought. We women sometime forget the hardships and many times the hardships we women face are explained to us through the eyes of men.
Shalom,
Patricia