THE VIRGIN MARY’S PATH TO BELIEVING
The dark world of human forgetfulness ensures that most of us will be forgotten. Few will visit our graves; perhaps family, but they, too, will only visit when passing through town and maybe not even then. Many of us will pass into eternity with a heart crushed by disappointment, fear or embarrassment, perhaps all three.
The parents of that precious little girl named Mary are not even mentioned in the Bible. They probably wanted it that way. I don’t know. Only ancient tradition tells us their names as Joaquim and Ann. No one really knows. They were probably a typical family of that day and age. There may have been other children in their family with all the sounds of kids playing, running in and out, food cooking, doing chores. Family. Typical. I really don’t know and neither does anyone else. That family is lost; disappeared and forgotten.
Mary may have been around 12 years of age when she was engaged to marry Joseph as was tradition in those days. She was only twelve for Pete’s sake. Twelve! Yes, apparently her parents promised her to Joseph in marriage. I would imagine that they were excited and happy. This was normal back in those days. Joseph was a good man and they trusted him with their precious daughter. To be engaged was a commitment almost like marriage, but without any kind of physical relationship. Then the crash came! I’m beginning to cry. Can’t help it. This father was caught between anger and disappointment. The mother of Mary – unbelievably heartbroken. Crying their eyes out, their bitterness most assuredly exploded and questioning God, “Why! Why, O God! We tried to do our best. Where did we fail? We gave her our all. We tried to protect her and love her; now this! Why?”
So now they separated themselves and their family from friends and relatives. They hid. They might have even moved away so that no one would know who they were. Mary tried to tell her parents that an angel blessed her and that she was still a virgin and had not been intimate with Joseph. There she was, pregnant. If she had older brothers, they may have even slapped her around. “You’re a virgin? Do you think we are a stupid? Get outta here!”
In the dark of night this family snuck away with embarrassment never to be heard from again. Continue reading “Sinking Sand/Solid Rock – An Anthology |Interlude”
Write It On My Heart 