Advent Calendar – 5 December
Nativity Stories: Mary
The day it happened, I was a mess. I was thinking about Joseph, my betrothed, when the other one came. I’d seen him – Joseph – in his workshop when Michal took us there. She was always dragging us over to her place, running into the house and through the shed where her brother worked. He just said, “Stay away from the tools, girls. They’re sharp.”
Then my mother asked what I thought of him.
“Not much,” I said, “he’s a bit grumpy.”
“Well, your father and I think he’d make a good husband for you. He’s a hard worker.”
And that was that. It’s funny how quickly you have to grow up. One day I was playing tig with my friends after we all finished our chores at home. The next I was preparing for marriage, hearing lectures about setting up a home, how to manage the food and the money and the clothes and the bedding and what a man expects. The betrothal was only just signed that day and my mind was all over the place. What would it be like living with Joseph? Would he be kind? What should I be like with him? That was when the stranger appeared.
I’ve tried to remember exactly what happened, but bits are missing. It must have been real though – there is evidence which I can’t hide. The doorway opened, I’m sure of that, and then it darkened and I looked up, I expected a familiar face but it wasn’t anyone I recognised. He was a grown-up, just wearing ordinary clothes, and his face was a bit weird. He walked right in, and I was so scared, I wanted him to leave straight away. I thought maybe I could say, “You’ll find Father in the fields,” but he spoke first.
“Hey,” he said, “You’ve been singled out, and the Lord is with you.” How did he know me? Men never really spoke to me, and I didn’t know what this one meant. He told me not to be afraid, but then he said something which really did terrify me. I was going to have a baby son – I didn’t hear the rest of the speech, I was so angry. How could he think we’d have rushed ahead? What kind of girl did he think I was? So before I could stop myself I said, “How can this be true? Joseph and I are only just betrothed, we’ve not even kissed let alone… the other thing.”
But he just kept going. He said the Holy Spirit, the Most High would overshadow me so my son would be God’s son. How dare he push me like this. I’d never seen him in the town before. Didn’t I get a say? But he knew I had a relative called Elizabeth, as old as my mother, who was expecting a baby. And he said, “with God anything can happen.” It was funny because that’s exactly what my mother and father said when they’d heard the news about Elizabeth. Remember Sarah who laughed, remember Hannah who wept – strange things happen.
I wondered why the Lord would choose me out of all the girls in Judea. There must be hundreds of girls better suited than me for this. Anyway I looked up at him and there was something so loving in his eyes, like a father who would always keep you safe, like a mother who’d always wrap her arms around you.
“What about Joseph?” I asked.
“Leave him to me.” He smiled.
“Will it hurt?”
“Yes,” he said. There was always going to be pain for us, especially for women. He couldn’t promise an easy life.
I think that’s why my doubts vanished just like that, like chaff on a windy day at harvest. He didn’t hide anything, he wasn’t trying to fool me. I knew he was waiting for an answer. I knew I had the choice.
“Yes,” I said, still a bit frightened. “Yes. I will serve. Let it happen.”
Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Annunciation
Yours,
Donald