Her water broke in a barn
Mary, I know you’re eight months pregnant, he says
But we have to travel to Bethlehem
They look at each other across the room
She nods quietly as she looks at Joseph
If she expected special treatment
For being chosen as special
By the Creator of Galaxies
She hadn’t had much of it during the last 8 months
Of morning sickness
Swollen ankles and
Sore back and
Growing belly and
Glances from women in the village and
Gossip behind her back
Several days of riding a donkey and
Walking for miles and
Sleeping under the stars
Brings them to Bethlehem
Only to be greeted by no vacancy
No vacancy
No vacancy
Except
There is a dry spot out of the wind
In the barn with the animals
They look at each other
He feels the burning shame of
Being unable to provide comfort to her
She wonders what the God of Jacob is thinking
And quietly nods at Joseph
And then it happens
Her water breaks
In the barn
Out with the animals
This time the look they share includes
Panic and
Fear
She can’t deliver out here, he thinks
I can’t deliver out here, she cries
God what are you up to?
We thought we were special
We were chosen for this honored role
God I don’t know how to help her, he prays
God I don’t know how to get through childbirth, she moans
But the baby is coming anyway
Through the labor pains
The anguish and pushing
The rush of blood and fluids
The relief and joy
He’s here!
But why did it have to be this way God?
Couldn’t you have reserved a better place for us?
Couldn't you have changed the timing of the census?
Couldn’t you have arranged another way?
Easier and more comfortable
There were angels when this all started
Where were they when we needed them today?
God have you forgotten we’re here so far from home?
*****
There were angels who were in fact
Close by
But they weren’t showing up for Mary and Joseph
Instead they showed themselves
To shepherds
Young men, stinky, dirty from their work
Young men who weren’t expecting or needing a visit
But who got one anyway
They were told to go find a baby out with the animals
In a feeding trough of all places
He is going to be a King
So they go into the crowded town and eventually
Find things just as they were told
A mother a father and a baby boy
Out with the animals
They tell the mother and father
How the angels appeared and spoke of
Wonderful and mysterious things
And how they had seen with their own eyes it was true
And Mary and Joseph share a look across the stable
Wonder and mirth and exhaustion
So this is how God does it
Not by creating a comfortable place
Or taking away the pains of labor
Or having loved ones surrounding us
Or having angels singing to us
No, God sent shepherds
These young, dirty, stinky shepherds
Who arrived only after all the pain and drama was over
*****
And isn’t this God’s way
Nothing like Santa Claus
With magical blessings and every dream fulfilled
But just enough in the form of stinky dirty shepherds
Reminding them they were not
And never had been
Forgotten
Or alone
And Mary pondered these things in her heart
That although nothing had been easy
God had not forgotten them
Even giving birth in a barn
With the animals