Mary and the Nativity

Joseph has gone to enroll us in the census.  We hope that he will be allowed to do this without my presence. I am too close to birth to wander out.  Hopefully, the Roman officials will be merciful.  He left early in the morning after leaving me some food and rearranging our straw.  The innkeeper arrived after breakfast to feed and water the animals, and a few of them were taken out for use.  He checked on me briefly, and then left.  I am the only person in the stable, but I don’t feel alone.  It’s been a strange feeling, but it’s true. The pains began in midmorning.  At first, they were mild, but I had seen enough childbirth to know what was coming.  I did not want to have my baby in a stable, of all places!  Animals were all around me, doing all the things that animals do.  They ate.  They scratched.  They defecated. They made all sorts of sounds.  One of the goats had a bad case of flatulence, but fortunately it was at the far end of the stable.  While they watched with their big, brown eyes, none of them could help me, though their presence helped to keep the stable warm.  How could G-d allow me to give birth to His son in a stable, and not even a small hut?  Would it have been too much to ask for that?  As I waited impatiently for my husband to return, I began to think about Job.  Who was I to question G-d?  Feeling somewhat chastened, I turned my thoughts to my baby.  While I had never felt alone, I had been praying all day for the strength I would need. I kept hoping my husband would return home quickly, but it was evening before he returned.

“It is done!’ Joseph said as he entered the stable where I reclined on a blanket. “I have met with the officials and we are enrolled in the census.  It took some explaining, why you weren’t with me.”  He looked at my face. “How are you doing?”

“My time has come,” I said, “I feel the labor coming.”  At that moment, pain enveloped my womb as it tried to squeeze my baby into the world.  Instantly Joseph was at my side, holding my hand until the spasm was over.  He began to pray and to recall the instructions of my mother to him before we left for Bethlehem.  Joseph helped me through the childbirth, which was surprisingly quick.  For a man, he did a fine job of caring for both his wife and newborn son.

He handed the baby to me.  “Son of G-d,” I whispered and kissed his head.  Joseph reclined next to me, and we both marveled at the miracle.  “What now?” he asked.  “I don’t know,” I replied, “G-d didn’t tell me.”  He was taken aback a moment.  In all the months of our marriage, we never really talked about what would happen “after”.  We assumed we would receive instructions from somewhere.  But no angelic being showed up, no mysterious messenger. There was a long pause. “Then we trust in the Lord,” he finally said.  I felt for his hand, and rested my head upon his shoulder.  He put his arm around me and held me close.  “Jesus,” he said, stroking the baby’s head with his free hand.  “Jesus,” I said.  Jesus snuggled against my breast and closed his eyes to rest.  Joseph began to pray in a very quiet voice.  Then we sat there together, in silence, marveling at the miracle in my arms.  I finally fell asleep, while Joseph kept watch.

I awoke after a few hours.  The night seemed a little too bright, even if it had been a full moon.  Joseph was also awake.  We heard yelling in the streets.  “Jesus!” I called out.  Joseph turned to me and pointed.  He had made a bed for the baby in a manger, filling it with clean straw, so that I could rest.  I thanked my parents yet once more for selecting him for my husband.  “What is the noise?” I asked him, “Is it trouble?”  “I don’t know,” he replied.  He searched our belongings for something to use as a weapon.  He stood at the front of the stable.  The noise became louder and closer to us.  Joseph braced himself, and I waited on the blankets, with the manger at my right hand.  We were nervous.  Were the Romans coming to cause trouble?  Was it a band of zealots?  Were we about to be caught in the middle of a riot?  I glanced at the manger, and Jesus was gazing at me.  I suddenly felt calm and unafraid.

A strange man came running up, looked at us, and ran away before Joseph could even react.  “Here they are!  I’ve found the babe!”  Soon there was a crowd of men running to the stable.  Joseph braced himself again, prepared to kill if he had to in order to protect us.  The men saw his face and stopped, confused.  “Joseph,” I said, “it’s all right.”  He turned to me, his eyes questioning me.  “It’s all right, Joseph, let them come.”  I could tell he didn’t like it, but he did as I asked.  Slowly the men came closer.  I could tell they were shepherds.  The sheep smell is unmistakable.  One by one, they came and bowed down.  One of them spun a tale of angels in the sky.  I looked at Jesus, and he looked at the shepherds.  I remembered my own angel, and knew that they told the truth.  What was I supposed to do?  What was the etiquette when a strange shepherd approached the Son of G-d in a manger in a stable?  Were they supposed to bring something?  Was I supposed to give something?  I had not the resources to set a table of any kind for so many.  I had not a table at all!  Not knowing what to do, I simply thanked them for coming.  Each one came and bowed down before my baby, and left the same way.  I could hear them shouting excitedly as they passed back through the town.  I reclined there on our blankets, with Joseph watching over us, pondering upon the events of the evening.

Then, one last question was answered.  I was the one who changed the diapers of the Son of G-d.