Here we are again nearing the final pages of TWO FROM GALILEE by Marjorie Holmes. Thanks to her we can get a small idea of what it was like for two of the most famous people ever written about in the bible. Her descriptions of the biblical people is beyond question..they are outstanding. Hope you are following along!........
Mary was too grateful to speak after Joseph said, "It won't be too long now, dearest--then you can rest." Again the donkey moved forward beneath her, through the gates into the hubbub of humanity just beyond. The inn was a great, sprawling old structure with a large courtyard, crowded with people unloading baggage, tying beasts or leading them toward the stable. Smoke from roasting meat came from the back of the building.
Joseph saw at once that his fears were to be realized. Trying to hide this fear, he tied the donkey and went inside. Although the innkeeper was busy serving wine, he took a moment too explain after Joseph's appeal, "I'm sorry, but we're full. Haven't got an inch for a cat to lay in. Find yourself a friendly yard, as I've been saying to others, or go back outside and sleep in the fields."
"We can't," Joseph explained. "We've already paid dearly to enter the town. Nor can we sleep on the earth again this night." Joseph grabbed the man's beefy arm, causing him to slop wine. The man, although angered, said nothing at the look of Joseph's desperation. "My wife is in labor. She is about to bear our first child. Please, you must give us shelter--at least for a few hours."
The man answered sadly, "But I can't! Can't you see? There's simply no room. I'm sorry, lad, but I can't perform miracles!" "Miracles," Joseph thought, starting to feel bitter. Well, let the Lord help us now! "You must," he repeated to the innkeeper. "You must help us." "Well," the man said, "there is the stable full of creatures already. But if you don't mind the stink and the noise-----" Joseph's heart sank. The chaos was deafening all around them, both from above and below, where he could hear beasts stamping and voices raised both in laughter and argument. "Is there nothing else??" he begged. "My wife must have privacy."
The man, who had left, soon came back, wheezing, and said, "Wait. There are some caves toward the back where we store things and stable a few animals when we're crowded. You'd be alone there. Just circle the inn, go down the path, and you're there. You can't miss it." Joseph felt heartsick to tell Mary, but he thanked the man and hurried to tell her. A stable! God had chosen him to look after Mary and her baby, but the best God could provide was a poor cave. A humble cave.
Mary was in the grip of great pain, but Joseph gently said, "Come, the inn is full, but you'll be alone, my beloved." He hurried the donkey forward and hoped the distance was not too far. The rocky pathway was strewn with dung and pitched downward circling the inn. It led to an opening marking a series of caves. Here would not be absolute privacy, for a group of grizzled Bedouins had built a fire before the opening and were cooking their evening meal with much laughing and talking. but they paid little attention to the little group that plodded into the cave's yawning mouth.
It smelled of oats and the tang of animals tethered in the near-dark. The fire's light from outside guided their footsteps, past shapes of solid oxen or cattle or small donkeys already sleeping. At last at the far end, groping about, Joseph found what appeared to be a vacant stall. He got the lamp lit with shaking hands and held it high, seeing one lone manger with some rancid straw strewn about. But he pitched the straw away and gathered armloads of some nice, clean straw and spread it in the manger. Upon it, to save time, he flung down his own cloak.
Turning to Mary, he held out his arm. "I'm sorry, my dearest," he said quietly, as she slid down. "It's the best I can do." "Thank, God," she moaned softly. "Oh, Joseph, thank God--for this place--and for you."
(End of today's story)
There have been times when Jerry and I have traveled wondering, "Is this the best we can do?" And there have been other times when I have said, "Thank God, for this place!" But I cannot remember where or when those events occurred. What about you? I think now that since I have been alert enough to God's way, that I would, hopefully, always say, "Thank God for this place!"
Watch for another chapter tomorrow! God willing!
Jo INMN
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