Pondering

The story Luke tells of the journey to Bethlehem is one read every year in most churches on Christmas Eve.  And if not read and heard in that place, it is often read in homes where the meaning of the Day is remembered and celebrated.  As a story it almost seems painless and easy.  It has a fairy tale quality about it.  Two young people set out from the home to a small village and as they arrive their firstborn son comes into their lives. And with the appearance of the angel prompted shepherds, the story gets filled with details almost too true for real living.     

Of course, when we read between the lines of the story, we come to understand that there was nothing easy about what took place that night so long ago.  It was a hard journey, made even harder by the nearing of the moment of birth.  And the birth which took place in a bed of straw was bereft of supporting and helping families who had the experience to offer comfort.  It was simply two very young people trying to figure it out as things unfolded.   The journey to Bethlehem was tough, but surely those final moments before the first cry of the newborn was an even harder journey.     

When all the sweat had been wiped away and the child was laid in a place as clean as any place could be in an animal stall,  Mary and Joseph must have been overwhelmed as any new parents are in the hour of such beginning.  One of the most revealing moments of what was happening is found in the 19th verse of that 2nd chapter of Luke as it says, "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."  Surely treasuring the gift of the child and pondering why He was born is worthy of our time during these final days of Advent.