The Birth

Image from "Nativity Story" ©2006 New Line Cinema

     The weary travelers settled in to the stable with the cows, sheep, goats and chickens.  Thankfully, most were asleep.  Mary wished she could sleep, but it evaded her tonight.  Joseph hung the lamp from a wooden beam above, and made a fresh bed of hay for Mary so she could rest.  

     "Joooseph!" 

     "What is it Mary?" In an instant, he was at her side.

     "The pain...ooooh...the pain.  It is too much for me to bear!"

     For the next few hours, Mary labored to give birth to this holy child, prophesied by Isaiah and others.  Blood, pain, cries, bearing down: it seemed the child was being ripped from her womb.

     By morning, the blessed event had occurred.  Mary held baby Jesus in her arms, with Joseph embracing them both.  A miracle...could it be? The new father had cut the umbilical cord, separating life from the life source.  Jesus cut off from Mary's life giving womb.  Jesus the Son of God, leaving Heaven to come to humble and sinful earth.  For us...for mankind!

     
                 -from "Christmas Musings" by Jarm Del Boccio ©2012