A letter from a Father

Thursday, December 25, 2008 11:52 AM By crosswaysnet , In ,

Star of Bethlehem

My Son,

Over the years, you have asked me many times about the night you were born. I have never been a man of great or many words. That is your mother's gift. She is the poet and the singer. You have heard her tell it time and again with all the grace and wonder the story deserves. While it is true that she is by far the better story teller, it is also true that I have used it as an excuse to keep silent. Mostly for fear that I would never be able to adequately express what I saw with my own eyes, and felt with my own heart. These are not things that are easy to translate into words, but they are true.

Now that the doctors say my time has come, I will try to give a voice to the story I lived more than twenty five years ago. You are man enough to know the truth. The story ends in wonder, but it began with deep grief. I say this not to place my pain on your shoulders, but so that you will understand what is now my great joy. Some of what I will share I have never told another soul.

When I was thirty years old, I came close to giving up hope of ever marrying. I was old for a groom, and our family's finances were dire. Years of failed harvests and Roman taxes had all but destroyed our business. All the others in our village were in similar straits. Yes, it was as bad as what you see these days - in some ways even worse. Herod seemed to be at the height of his evil, after all. You and I have prospered these past ten years, but I had not much hope of ever succeeding in those days.