Mary Did You Know?

Mary did you know....

...That when your contractions started, that this was it!
You were on the roller coaster of motherhood - years of joy and pain, but mostly joy.

...That the birth of your child would trigger an invasion of smelly shepherds,
straight from the hills.
History does not record who acted as midwife for you.
Perhaps shepherding would have been a better training for the job, but God chose a carpenter.
I wonder if Joseph took any tools with him on that journey to Bethlehem?
The romantic side of me imagines him carving an elaborate cradle, fit for a king.
The realist in me acknowledges that he is more likely to have adapted something that was there, quickly, simply and efficiently, whilst making as little noise as possible.

...That by the age of 12 your son appeared to have a precocious knowledge
and an intimate relationship with God.
How did it feel when your son appeared to be closer to a divine being, than his family?

...That your son would perform miracles - turning water into wine,
feeding thousands,
healing the sick
and raising the dead to life?
I wonder how you felt as he walked away from the job Joseph trained him to do,
and became an itinerant preacher,
replacing you and your other offspring with a new 'family' of fisherman, tax collectors, and odd balls?

....Rumour reached you of him having a tantrum in the temple.
Boy, they rushed to your door that day!
"Can't you control him?", they said, "after all you are his mother!"
"We always thought there was something odd about him..."
"Well, you know what they say. The quiet ones are the worst!"
"Not much time for you now, has he?  You must have wished that you hadn't bothered having that one!"
Meanwhile, you remember how much you had to save up to pay for the sacrifice
when each of your children was born,
and are quietly thinking
"Nice one, Son!  About time someone took action against those crooks!"

...When one of his 'new cronies', betrayed him, 
and you watched, broken-hearted as the life slowly and agonisingly left his body..

..When there was no body in the tomb.

... When you KNEW that he had accomplished all he came to do.

Mary, Did you know?