
Well. It’s a Monday. We’re back to work… Or it’s another morning and day with kids… Or maybe you’re off today… Maybe it’s laundry and groceries and meal prep… maybe you’re on vacation already… But whatever you’re doing, it’s a Monday. But not just any Monday, the Monday before Christmas. So there’s the additional pressures of finding and wrapping presents, preparing homes for people to come over or preparing to go over to travel. This Monday will easily be consumed by life, to do lists, and everything else in our plates, especially around the holidays.
Today, as I’m about to head to work, I’m wondering what did a Monday look like just over 2000 years ago? What were Mary and Joseph preparing for a week before the first Christmas?
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem is 90 miles. A full-grown adult is said to be able to make that journey in four days with a donkey. But, that’s making the journey quickly. Don’t forget, Mary would’ve been in her third trimester… That’s a taxing journey. It’s way more likely that they would’ve taken their time, making more stops, Joseph would’ve been checking on Mary.
I’ve traveled with my wife in her 3rd trimester. Trust me… they would not have been trying to beat any records for fastest trip to Bethlehem. To be born on a Sunday, it’s very likely that they would’ve left on Monday. On a day very much like today, they could have made their final preparations and set out on a Journey to hope in a manger.
What were they thinking? What were they packing? What were they feeling? What questions were they asking? What were they fearful of or excited for? What were they praying for?
As you’re preparing for the rest of your Monday, or for this week. As you’re preparing for Christmas this coming weekend: Remember Mary & Joseph. Remember the impending celebration of Jesus' birth. Light into our darkness. Hope for eternity. BUT ALSO, hope for today. In our grocery buying, present finding and wrapping, hard or not-so-hard working. In our relating, our joy, fear, grief, excitement, tenderness, anger, or melancholy. In all of it. God sent His son to be hope in this world in our dailies.
God the father sees you, He knows you, and He loves you.
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