Conflicting Thoughts And Worries Answered

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Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22962 – 1039

Here’s the haps:

You meet a young girl with whom you are greatly enamored and since you are a tradesman, it is no problem arranging a betrothal, especially since she really seems to like you so well. You think about this as you try to figure out what to do about your current situation. Mary has come to you and almost killed you with the shock of your life. She is with child. But even in your devastation at such a horrible turn of events, you must decide what to do. If you were a cruel man it would be easy, but you are not. You really do love this girl, but there is obviously something very wrong with her. She is not right in the head. She has told you this fantastic story about an angel from God, Gabriel himself, no less, appearing to her and saying that the very Spirit of the Almighty Father has created this baby and that she has not been with any other man. Having had time to observe her character in the village as you have and watching how she so scorned any of the village men or boys even when she could not know you were watching her, it just doesn’t add up. You have sent her to her parents’ home so you could think about this and now you wish you couldn’t think. You know her. You know it is impossible for her to have done this thing, but what she is claiming is equally impossible. Why, the child would be the Son of God Himself! The very incarnation of the Invisible and Holy One come to live among men? Ridiculous. Besides, if such a thing could happen, would it not be in the house of one of the religious leaders? What good was this line of thought? Was it not blasphemy to even think of the Almighty coming as a man? And to a poor carpenter and village maiden of all things? Besides, there has not even been a prophet in over 400 years. Sure, there was that thing with Judah Macabee that you have been told about, but a miracle from God was not the same as the voice of God. They needed a prophet, to be sure, but would the LORD of Heaven come to a sinful country like this?

She must be deranged. You wonder if perhaps one of the villagers has done the unspeakable to her. But whom? Surely they know your great physical strength and would not try to test you and besides, there was no one so evil and hateful in the area. But if someone had forced her, would she lose her mind over it? There are only a limited number of ways a woman can get pregnant; you count to yourself, “One, she willingly did it and now feels so bad that her mind has gone or two, someone has forced his way upon her and she cannot deal with it.” Your mind reels at the thought, but she must be put away. You hear in your mind the self-righteous in the town calling for her to be made a public example, but you just can’t imagine it. She was always so sweet and kind. A bill of divorcement or some such legal document must be written to finalize the matter, then perhaps her parents can send her away to somewhere even more remote and maybe her mind will heal in time. Your heart never will. You look down at the tear-stained workbench and just sit and stare out the little window for a while and try to reason with yourself that you were too old to think of marrying anyway. No amount of reasoning can take the hurt away, though.

You walk over to the cot you keep in the workroom and remember how she had just sat there yesterday, watching you work and waiting with a pitcher of cool water she had brought for you. She had gotten some bread and cheese and sat there with you, laughing and joking, enjoying the refreshment of the cool water and the refreshment of her light and loving spirit. You often whiled away whole afternoons talking and laughing with her and getting behind in your work and making it up later. You cannot even think of a time before you met her. You can barely remember how gray and dull every day was, how you had no one to talk to who cared one whit for you. You sit on that same cot now, thinking about how you loved her so much…

Laying there, staring at the ceiling, you firmly make up your mind that no matter what; the thing must be done privately. That settled, you decide to close your eyes for a moment and feel the burning inside your lids. That’s when you hear a voice, an unearthly voice of great power and authority; and there is a mighty angel right there with you! One of the messengers of the Most High has come to you! Gabriel.

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

The angel disappears in the blink of an eye, but now you know. You know. You felt the Very Power Itself in the room as the angel spoke the words. Even as you fly out the door and race down the path to Mary’s parents’ house, you tremble with reverence and awe at the idea – and the Name. Jah Oshea, Joshua, The Lord who saves! Thou shalt call his name Jesus! God With Us as our savior! Saving us from our sins!