I was honored this past week to be able to sit at the bedside of a woman who was dying. As I quietly sang to her the ‘old,’ comforting hymns and talked to her about Advent, I reminded Kathy that all too often today, we ‘sanitize’ Advent and Christmas.
We forget that Mary and Joseph were not choosing to go to Bethlehem. It is a long walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I doubt very seriously that Mary, in her 9th month, and Joseph, full of love and compassion, would have chosen to make such a journey. They were leaving all of the familiar support systems they had in Nazareth to comply with the Roman decree. They had to choose between staying put in Nazareth and suffering the consequences or making the long, difficult trip to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. Their world was not pristine and fluffy; it was chaotic, harsh and grueling.
Whether you believe the literal reading of the nativity as found in Matthew or Luke or you subscribe to the findings of the Jesus Seminar—it really doesn’t matter. Mary and Joseph’s world was chaotic and harsh. What we do know for sure, without one doubt, is that God loves us so much; God sends us Jesus to show us the way home.
During this Advent season, as you make your own journey to Bethlehem, I pray you remember that however harsh and chaotic you journey may seem; God is with us. I pray that you find peace, not as the world gives, but God’s peace that passes all human understanding.
Kathy died Friday night. She has joined the great multitude of saints that have gone before. Kathy will be on the hearts of many here at Marble this week. Let us take comfort from the Gospel of John 11:25-26:
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
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