An Imaginative Retelling of the Christmas Story
Narrated by Gabriel, Joseph and Mary, Elizabeth, and the Innkeeper’s Wife
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JOSEPH Takes Mary with Him to Bethlehem
When the decree was issued from Caesar Augustus that everyone had to be counted in a census and pay taxes in the city of their ancestry, I went to Mary. “I have to make the trip to Bethlehem, as does your father,” I told her. “But I would like for you to be registered under my name rather than your father’s. I think it’s time for us to acknowledge our marriage and declare ourselves a family. Do you think you could make the trip?”
“Oh Joseph, it’s so far!” she protested. “Well, it’s not really that far, but I know I’d never be able to walk. I can barely waddle around the house!”
“I’ll get a donkey. Could you ride, if we didn’t hurry? We would take as long as you needed to.”
“It makes me nervous to think about being away, with the baby coming so soon,” she objected. “What if we didn’t get back in time? It would be sad for him to be born among strangers. And who would help me with the birth?”
“I don’t know the answers to your questions, Mary. But it just seems right to me that we should do it this way. Don’t be afraid. I believe everything will happen just as it should.”
She looked at me carefully. She had been practicing trust for many months, ever since Gabriel had appeared to her on the day that now seemed so long ago. It couldn’t really be all that remarkable that once more she was being asked to trust a plan that did not make much sense to her. “I will go with you,” she said at last.
It was a difficult journey. I did all I could to make it easier for Mary, seeking out the smoothest parts of the road, steadying her with an arm when the going got rough. We paused to rest whenever I saw she was becoming too weary, but with Bethlehem just ahead of us, we moved faster and stopped less often, anxious to be in the city by nightfall. How wonderful it was going to be to wash off the dust, to eat a warm meal, to lie down and not move again until we were good and ready!
Mary winced. “What is it?” I asked quickly, sensing her distress.
“It’s nothing. I’m all right. But I think I should lie down soon.”
“We’re almost there,” I assured her. “Only a little while longer, and you can rest.”
But there was no place for her to rest. The city was crowded with people, more than I had ever seen anywhere at any time before. We tied the donkey, and made our way through the streets on foot. To our dismay, it was impossible to find a room. At inn after inn, the keepers waved us away. “Sorry. We were filled up hours ago,” they said, or “No room here. Move on.”
Mary was near tears. “Joseph, what are we going to do? I have to lie down. I have to. I have to! If we don’t find a place soon, I’m going to lie down right here in the street!”
“Oh, don’t be silly!” I said lightheartedly, but I knew my words did not cover the real anxiety I felt. “We will surely find some kind of shelter.”
(To be continued)
MaryMartha
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Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
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