Modern Version of the Birth of Christ from Joseph's Perspective

The pain shot from my toe up my entire leg as I collapsed into bed. “Could this day possibly get any worse?” I wondered aloud as I fished the box of band-aids out of my nightstand drawer. I picked through the few remaining and almost laughed at how quickly I had emptied this box. I am a carpenter and nicks and cuts are common, but really this is ridiculous. I felt exhaustion creep over me as I tried in vain to make the knuckle-cut bandage fit over my bleeding toe. I finally gave up and resorted to grabbing the tissue box. If I wrap it in these at least I could cut down on the laundry I’d have to do. Getting married really would have made things much easier.

My memory flicked back to all the things that had gone wrong today. The scene replayed and my stomach sunk again as in my mind’s eye I see her standing there. Her mouth forming those dreadful words, “I’m pregnant.” Pregnant? I never would have thought Mary was capable of unfaithfulness. I just can’t marry her now. No one would believe it wasn’t mine. Her parents would blame me. My parents would blame me. No, it’s just not possible. On top of all that I could lose the account with Mr. Hannigan. Mr. Hannigan, of Hannigan and Sons Furniture, with chains of stores across the country is interested in my work. He had met my father at the New Model Rollout at the beginning of the year and was impressed not only with my work, but also with my father’s high moral standards in the dog eat dog world of business we live in today. If he likes this exotic, Burmese cherry, hand carved, gold leaf, monogrammed, special ordered, twelve piece dining room set I’ve been slaving over 12 hours a day since Valentine’s Day , then I may have the privilege of taking out a million dollar loan to reopen the old furniture factory downtown. Then we can start mass producing these things for him to sell in his pricy upscale showrooms across the country. Okay, really I stand to benefit from this too. Aside from catapulting me into instant success and fame by plastering my face and furniture on billboards from here to Milwaukee, this partnership would allow me to re-employ many residents of Indianapolis whose jobs were lost when the factory closed 10 years ago. To add to the stress of my day I had gotten a phone call earlier from Mr. Hannigan’s secretary telling me that the set was to be dropped off by the end of January It’s almost June and I’m just now finishing the table not to mention all twelve chairs. Just thinking about all the extra hours I would have to put in on such an important and ornate piece made me even more exhausted then I already was, if that was even possible. My eyes began to feel heavier and my mind began to slow down as I finally found that comfortable spot in my bed. As my head sunk into the pillow, I allowed sleep to slowly overtake me.

The next thing I knew a bright light was blinding me. As my eyes adjusted I was able to make out the form of a man, but not an average sized man. This man loomed over me and the oddest thing about him was that he was a dressed in a pure white suit and white patent leather shoes. Even his skin was pale and his blonde hair reflected the light that I had first perceived to be coming from him, but now I saw was coming from above him. Fear and awe battled for me, but his face calmed me. When the man opened his mouth to speak I still flinched in the overwhelming presence, but the voice was just as calm as the face, “Don’t be afraid, Joe.” “He’s a huge shining white man, and he’s telling me not to be afraid and how does he know my name anyway?” I thought and as if he read my mind he answered, “I’m not telling you not to be afraid of me.” My jaw must of dropped a foot and a smile seemed to creep to the corner of the man’s lips, but just as soon as it seemed to appear it was gone and he said, “Don’t be afraid to marry her.” Shock froze my body. ”How did he know this?” but he continued, “She didn’t cheat on you. Her baby is from the Holy Spirit. Mary will have a baby boy and he will be the son of God. You are to name him Joshua, which means the Lord saves, because he will save his people from their sins.” It took all my strength to nod and that faint smile appeared again and then my body jerked forward and I was in my bed, sweating, the man was gone, and the room seemed exceptionally dark.

Try as I might I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I finally gave up and got up and took a hot shower. I was completely ready for the day, had eaten breakfast, and drank 3 cups of coffee by 7 o’clock and I had waited long enough. I picked up my cell phone speed dialed Mary. It rang once, twice. “Joe! You called.” There was so much relief in her sleepy voice.

“Mary, it’s okay.”

 “What’d you…”

“I know and it’s okay. I had a dream or a vision or something.”

“Was there a man? Dressed in white?”

“Yes! And he talked to me like he…”

“Like he knew everything about you? Everything you were thinking?”

“Yes…yes… it was just like that..”

There was silence for a moment and then I whispered, “Mary?”

“Yes, Joe?”

“Are you scared?”

“Terrified,” a pause,” but something tells me it’ll be okay.”

“He told me it would be okay. He told me the baby is going to be God’s son. Do you think? The Messiah?”

“It sounds like it. Joe, does this mean you’re not going to...”

“No, Mary, I would never. We’re in this together now. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be over soon.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too. See you in a bit.”

“’Okay, bye.”

** Eight Months Later **

The time was getting close for Mr. Hannigan’s furniture to be finished and dropped off at his home in Detroit. His secretary had called and given me a date, January 28^th. The same weekend as the Super Bowl. Amazing. The Lions made it to the Super Bowl! Who ever thought that would happen? Of course it had to take place the same weekend Mr. Hannigan wanted the table delivered. I’m beginning to think he’s testing my perseverance. Finding a place to stay for the night would be an extra challenge even knowing this much in advance. It’s also frighteningly close to Mary’s due date. I sat down at my computer and looked up Hotwire.com. I easily found a relatively inexpensive hotel located between Mr. Hannigan’s estate and the nearest hospital. I breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, at least that’s taken care of.

A couple weeks later I found myself carefully loading my future into my truck: Mr. Hannigan’s completed table, Mary, and my unborn son. I patted the side of the truck as I hopped into the driver’s seat. I put a comforting hand on Mary’s bulging belly and said a little prayer for the three of us. When I was finished the baby kicked my hand and I smiled at Mary and shifted into reverse as we headed off towards Michigan.

The trip was relatively uneventful until we got off at our exit. Mary was sleeping peacefully next to me when my truck began to smoke and sputter. “Oh no, not now, we’re almost there.” I spoke to my truck. Mary stirred, but didn’t wake up as I pulled to the side of the road and quietly slid out to check what was wrong. When I popped the hood smoke billowed out into my face and I stumbled backwards choking and coughing. “Perfect, just perfect.” I thought, “What do I do now?” I looked up and saw that Mary was awake and looking questioningly at me. I walked around to my side of the truck and got back in rubbing my arms from the cold, but I managed a comforting smile at Mary. “It’s okay, we’ll just have to call a taxi. Don’t worry. We’ll get there. I’m surprised the truck made it this far anyway.” She relaxed into the seat a little and I handed her a blanket from the backseat to keep her warm as the cab of the truck had already begun to cool and I dialed AAA.

A half an hour later a taxi had picked us up and we were speeding along toward the Holiday Inn Express we had a room reserved at. On the way there, Mary clutched at her stomach, “Uhh…Joe… I think it’s time…” I went into an instant panic, “Are you sure?” She nodded in pain and I turned to the driver “How much further?” He motioned to a sign lit up down the street, “It is right there, sir.” He answered in broken English. I breathed a sigh of relief “Oh, good, okay.” We pulled into the parking lot and I called 911 as I tenderly helped Mary into the lobby of the hotel, “Hello? My wife’s having a baby. Yes, I need an ambulance at the Holiday Inn Express off of Woodward on Oak...Okay…Thank you.” I flipped the phone shut and slipped it into my pocket as I helped Mary into a seat in the lobby, “Are you okay? The ambulance will be here soon.” She nodded and I pulled myself away to turn to talk to the clerk at the front desk. She did not look like the person I wanted to talk to at the moment. Her blonde pigtails bounced as she welcomed me with an obnoxious chomping of her gum and a ridiculously high pitched voice, “Welcome to Holiday Inn. You have a reservation, right? I mean you’re not expecting to get a room at the last minute with the Super Bowl going on right? Cuz that would just be..” I had to cut her off, “Yes, my name is Joe Christy. C-h-r-i-s-t-y. I made a reservation about a month ago. That’s my wife over there” I indicated the chair where I had left Mary, “and she’s about to have a baby, so there should be an ambulance arriving any minute to pick us up and take us to the hospital. “ “Mmmmkay,” the girl responded as she checked the computer. The mouse clicked and scrolled, clicked and scrolled until she finally looked up at me, “I’m sorry but we don’t seem to have a Joe Christy in our system.” I was beginning to get impatient, “Are you sure you spelled it right? C-h-r-i-s-t-y? Nothing under Joseph Christy either?” She began to check again…more clicking…more scrolling…still a blank look on her face. “Nothing?” I asked. “No” she frowed sympathetically, “but you guys can wait here for your ambulance at least and I can let you know if we have any cancellations.” I replied with a simple “Thank you.” and walked back over to Mary who seemed to be in considerable more amounts of pain. I knelt in front of her and took her hands and tried to be as comforting as possible, “The ambulance is on its way. They lost our room reservation, but we’ll be spending tonight in the hospital, right?” I smiled the most comforting smile I could manage. Mary just nodded and kept a vice-grip on my hands.

Time went by. Far too much time. The ambulance should have been here by now. Joshua was coming and nothing was stopping him now. I finally yelled to the receptionist, “Could you call 911 again and make sure an ambulance is coming?” She looked up from the computer nodded and picked up the phone. I could hear her talking, but couldn’t quite make out what was going on. Finally she hung up and walked over to me. “Mr. Christy, the ambulance got caught in a traffic pile up, there was an accident on the highway. I don’t think they’re going to be here in time.” She looked worriedly at Mary. “Okay well…” I racked my brain, “Do you know if there’s a doctor staying here?” She shrugged and then a light seemed to go on and she ran off into the next room. She came back leading a slightly older Indian woman. “Mr. Christy, this is Miss Nima she was a midwife back in India, she can help.” “Okay, thank you. Miss Nima, can you help us?” I was beginning to break. I was helping Mary bring a miracle into the world. I would accept any kind of help right now. Nima asked the girl to bring her towels and had Mary lay back on the floor. I finally stepped back and took a breath and prayed silently over and over again to myself as I silently watched Mary writhe and moan in pain in the lobby of a Holiday Inn. “Oh God,” I whispered to myself, “please let it be alright. Let Mary be alright. Let the baby be alright.”

Kindness

      I miss guy best friends. Real guy best friends. The kind that bear hug you when you see them and smile like you being in the room makes their day a little bit brighter. The kind that appreciate your friendship foir what it is..friendship. Just friends. The kind that don’t kindly tap you on the back as if hugging you with any affection will make you explode with romantic feelings just because you’re a girl. I miss those kind of friends. I miss them a lot. I saw my best guy friend this week and I didn’t realize how much I missed him until I saw him. I missed him sooo freaking much and he won’t be here this semester. I feel like a huge part of our group is gone and I feel like the harder I try to find people to fill in the more disappointed I am.

    Everything could be fine with just a hug, a real hug. A hug where you feel absolutely safe and everything is right in the world. A hug where you don’t have to feel awkward or wonder who will pull away first. Why is it that such simple things make us feel so much better? I’m amazed every day by the more I ignore the world the more interested the world is in me. I hate that. Why can’t I just love you and you love me and not have to feel like in order for you to love me as much as I love you I first have to pretend you don’t exist? How is it that Christians are so gung ho about loving people and going out into the streets to show Christ's love for people when we can't even love each other?   

    I have a friend I had tried to be friendly to and who was totally giving me the cold shoulder, but today she came out of her way to come and sit and talk with me. Why is that? It’s so frustrating. I want to love to people. I honestly want to love people and that's who I am, but I feel like I can't, because especially if  it's a guy it's always taken the wrong way. I don't have a giant obessive crush on you. I'm your friend and I want to act like I'm your friend. Why isn't that okay? Why can't we all be more loving and more than that, why can't we just be more open and honest?

    We should be more like my friend, Cal, today he came into the café when I was sitting alone trying to read just to tell me how pretty I looked. He gave me a little hug and kissed me on the cheek and said “I just had to come in here and tell you how pretty you look today. I was walking by and I just thought ‘Wow! She is practically glowing today.’” That’s all it took to make the rest of my day worth going through. I appreciate Cal so much. Some people don't like him b/c he always says what he's thinking, but at least he's honest. He's always honest and sometimes people don't want to hear the truth, but I do. Sometimes it's hard to hear that someone else has noticed that we're struggling with something. But the honest kindness that compliments this bluntness makes up for the times when you'd rather hear a lie. Kindess is appreciated more than we’ll ever know. Whether it’s a kiss, a hug, or just simply telling someone how much you appreciate them it can make a world of difference.

Trust