Wednesday, March 24, 2010

A Letter to Step Daddy Joseph



He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2: 5-7

Hey Jo,

Man, when I read the words “and she gave birth to HER firstborn” I couldn’t help but to think about you; because when it comes down to it… Jesus is not your kin.

Honestly. I think you aren’t properly appreciated. There’s all this talk about Mary. And don’t get me wrong. Your boo was the illest… No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

But why aren’t you celebrated too? It’s kinda like the difference between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Mom gets flowers, breakfast in bed, all kinds of doting and attention. Pops gets a dusty tie.

Not cool.

But I’m here today to give you your props man. It must have been difficult to raise baby Jesus; and I can’t imagine adolescent Jesus. Jesus would go off, disappearing all willy nilly… good thing you knew to find him in the temple.

He always could give the priests a run for their money.

But you also taught him how to be a carpenter. You put food in his stomach, clothes on his back and sandals on his feet. You led the family to Egypt when Harod put out a hit on the boy. And most of all you had faith in your bride to be.

I don’t know many men who would believe that story. Your fiancĂ© comes up to you and tells you that she’s preggers… And to add insult to injury she tells you that it’s God’s baby.

Say what!?

But God sent some help for you to understand and in the end you decided to trust her. And by trusting her you took on a daunting task. You accepted the responsibility of being Step Dad to the Son of God.

You should be celebrated. At least that’s my take on it. So I’m starting the celebration now.

Well done Step Daddy Joseph! You are an inspiration to us all.

Sincerely,

Clarence



Today’s Reading: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2: 1-24

1 comment:

  1. Wow! What a fresh perspective on Joseph. We never really think about the day-to-day he must've had to deal with. The folks who never bought the God's baby story - and the way they probably kept it in his face. Quite a provocative and thoughtful post. Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete

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