– In 2013, Hug your woman, hide your ego
We are still in the midst of the season or Festival of Christmas. I know that many Guyanese – inclusive of Christians, view just the preparations, then-the twenty-fifth of December as “Christmas”. One dubious day? No. Now that the commercial splurges and enticements are subsiding, those interested should spare a thought for the various wonderful elements of this (religious) celebration.
Christmas was once the Feast of the Nativity. A Roman Catholic Pope arbitrarily chose December 25 as Jesus’ Birth Date for specific reasons. One of the first “foreign” lands to embrace the observance of the Birth was African – Egypt! Europe and Asia followed afterwards.
But today, I wish to invite you all to explore the personalities and lives of the parents of this Divine Boy Baby born to a virgin – by some non-intercourse miracle, described as “immaculate conception”
Blessed Mary, Mother of God
You – and I – can find out much, much more about Mary than of Joseph. I suspect too that the Jehovah Witnesses, do not accord as much queenly, saintly status to Mary, as do those Christians who are, say, Roman Catholics. They all however acknowledge her as the most important female of those formative times.
She was, after all, to Believers, the female parent of God the Son though man, that made her the Mother of God. But who was she?
Evidently, she was of Judah and the House of David. (Her son, it was prophesied, was to found and lead a Davidic Kingdom of the Jews.) The Nazareth lass was a mere sixteen – to-eighteen year-old. But her gentleman, her fiancé was ”a big man” – about forty-plus! He was a carpenter skilled but poor in the time of Augustus Caesar and King Herod.
Naturally, the young lady had little choice when she was informed/instructed that she would bear the Holy Baby. But she did have a devastating dilemma. What would Joseph think? He was just a worldly man. Imagine her position. However a series of Divine interventions assisted her.
The rest is history: no rooms available because of census-taking; the Birth in a manger of animals; then her having to become a refugee mother in Egypt! The girl had to be strong in many ways. Joseph disappears relatively early from Biblical record. (I leave you to find out whether Mary (or Joseph) had other biological children; whether she was soon “a single parent”.)
Whatever her status, the girl was certainly a working-class, but chosen and devout; later a pillar of the Christian Faith and Story itself.
Whatever happened to Joe?
Joseph fades away early from parenthood. But I salute his integrity. Despite Divine, angelic requests, he could have walked away from a young pregnant fiancée – with Child for only God knew whom (literally). But Carpenter Joe accepted the responsibility; believed Mary’s story and faith and gave her respectable status in Nazareth/Bethlehem. He changed his mind from divorce!
I wonder what Biblical Scholars would surmise about this, my wonderment: Though it was ordained that God the Son would live and die for his people’s sins, what would have happened if Joe had not succeeded in spiriting the infant away to Africa?
Research Joseph’s attitude to both Mary, and Her Son as he (Joseph) observed Jesus’ treatment of his Mother. Then Discuss during the remainder of the twelve days of this Season.
Love women, not image, Ego…
This story of the Christmas Parents certainly highlights the nobility, sacrifice and status of the race’s women.
Christians hold that a young woman brought forth their Emmanuel, their Messiah. She was with him until his execution on a cross beneath which she witnessed his passing. Reportedly, she stuck with his followers even after.
Given that all of today’s women can’t be Marys, does her status still not indicate the role of good-females in our lives? I appeal to today’s young men: hug your girls! Don’t hit, injure or kill them! What type of males is Guyana “producing” these days? Walk away if the lady has wronged you. Violence is very brief “satisfaction”, if any at all.
Joseph, Jesus’ Guardian, put aside his bruised ego, when he discovered her pregnancy. He was a labourer proud of manual pursuits. He did not hit!
Let’s submerge our egos a while, however high in status we feel we are. One young minister of government loves to plaster his image on posters and billboards. Why? Are the houselots his own to allocate?
Truly wealthy and powerful men really do not need to flaunt image or their actual good deeds. What price authority? Status? “Popularity”? Be humble in your office, gentleman. You can still be firm, and accepted
Resolutions? Prognostications?
*1) No, I won’t make concrete promises, nor would I predict things on Old Years Day Monday. I’ll merely hope.
*2) One hope is that Opposition Leader David Granger really assumes his responsibility in 2013. Prosecute and defend your constituency’s needs. (How long must Linden wait on “agreement” for example?)
*3) Who tells President Ramotar what to put in “his” Budget? Can’t Public Servants “get something more”? I hope so – Budget 2013.
*4) Will the Curacao Gold Story just fade away?
*5) Can Trade Unions establish economic projects in 2013?
`Til next week!
allanafenty@yahoo.com
