Mary had been busy lately. The part-time work she started when her father was ill had lessened but still continued, and on top of her usual housework, she now had to learn what her mother called “bride lessons.” Her days flew by so quickly that she barely noticed. Although she could rest on the Sabbath, as soon as it ended, her hectic routine would begin again, leaving Mary more and more exhausted. At first, she said she was fine, but soon it became too much. When Mary couldn’t take it anymore, she asked her mother for a day off and finally got one.
On her long-awaited day of rest, Mary headed to the forest near the village. The forest, lush with trees and bushes, was filled with memories from her childhood. She had explored every corner with her friends, and when they were hungry, they’d pick and eat figs, pomegranates, and dates. On days when she ate too much fruit in the forest, her mother would scold her for not eating dinner. Each time, Mary would cry and promise never to do it again, but it always happened anyway.
Thinking back, she realized she’d been quite a tomboy as a child. Her parents still teased her that she hadn’t changed, and while she always denied it, she knew it was partly true. Had she really grown up since then? Even though she was about to get married, if someone asked her if she actually wanted to, she still couldn’t answer with confidence. She was fine with everything else, but marriage felt different. Maybe she just wasn’t ready yet.
Feeling restless, Mary took a deep breath. After a few more, the cool scent of the forest filled her lungs. Calming herself, she sat on a rock by the path and looked around. White clouds drifted overhead, and the green trees were heavy with fruit. She picked a date from a branch and ate it. The sweet taste spread across her tongue. Feeling a bit better, she tried a pomegranate next; its sweet and tart flavor lifted her mood even more.
Mary looked up at the sky. Sunlight sparkled through the dense leaves, making her squint. She closed her eyes and felt the breeze pass by. The wind swirling through the forest seemed to welcome her back after a long time.
Maybe happiness isn’t something grand. Maybe it depends on how we appreciate the small, everyday things-or how we accept reality. If that’s true, perhaps there’s no need to fear whatever the future holds.
The prophet Isaiah said:
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah prophesied that one day, when a shoot comes up from the stump of Jesse, the world will know peace. If we trust in the Lord, we too will share in that peace, no matter what the future brings-just like the peace Mary felt in that moment.
She composed herself and walked through the forest again. Surrounded by the beauty, she thought of the Garden of Eden. She almost envied Adam and Eve for the peace they must have known in the Garden of Eden, but then she remembered the pain of their sin-how they twisted God’s command after being deceived by the serpent, and how their lives must have changed forever.
As Mary imagined Adam and Eve teaching their children not to sin, Joseph suddenly came to mind. Joseph was scrupulous about keeping the law, which is admirable for a Jew, but he had one problem: he felt guilty even over trivial things. Everyone makes mistakes or inconveniences others from time to time, but Joseph suffered from guilt, attaching too much meaning to small matters. He knew this about himself but never tried to change. If life is hard, you can change your attitude, but she couldn’t understand his stubbornness. Whenever he acted this way, Mary doubted whether this marriage was right.
She knew Joseph loved her, but how long could that love last? If any problem was found with her, as the Pharisees taught, he might immediately write a certificate of divorce. After all, he followed the law to the letter. From a man’s perspective, it seemed like a natural right. But what about the one on the receiving end? Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, if you’re called a sinner by the law, there’s nowhere to hide.
Lately, Mary realized her growing worries were all because of Joseph, the man she was to marry. Adam was Eve’s only partner, but was Joseph really the one God had chosen for her? Could she and Joseph, with such different ways of thinking, really live together with one heart? She wasn’t sure she could handle Joseph’s weaknesses, or even truly love him. She couldn’t be certain of anything.
Mary wished God would give her a sign. It wasn’t that Joseph lacked faith-he was clearly a man of faith, just as she’d hoped. The problem was, his faith looked different from what she’d imagined. Her worry came from not knowing whether this was true faith or not.
Would life with him really be happy? She didn’t want someone with money, looks, or status like her married friend. But even without those things, their hearts should match-yet when she looked at Joseph now, all she felt was frustration. Wouldn’t life with him be just as frustrating? Her family members are assertive and quick to judge right from wrong, and even if they’re wrong, they move on quickly. Joseph was the opposite-he gets hurt easily and dwells on it for a long time. He overthinks everything, maybe too much. He almost always thinks alone and comes to conclusions alone, often overthinking and coming to the wrong answer. She didn’t understand why he avoided conversation, as if it was a burden he couldn’t bear. It made her wonder if he was hiding something or just didn’t know how to express himself.
She also disliked how Joseph was always so mindful of her reactions. He called it consideration, but didn’t realize it sometimes came across as overly accommodating. If it were just with her, she might understand, but he did it with everyone, and she really disliked that. Why couldn’t he live with more confidence?
Sometimes, when she was upset, he would apologize even if it wasn’t his fault, which only made her angrier. Her older sisters used to complain about how men always tried to fix women’s problems, and now she totally understood. They just made things worse by trying to fix what could have been solved by simply listening and empathizing. She didn’t understand why men did this.
Was marrying Joseph really the right thing to do? She hadn’t chosen her marriage partner, and now that the marriage contract was written, she felt there was nothing she could do. Still, who knew what might happen in a few months? If she developed some legal reason for annulment, Joseph might decide to end the marriage after brooding over it, as he always did. But if that happened, ending the marriage would be the least of her worries-something serious must have happened to her anyway, and that would be the real concern.
The passage from Isaiah 11:6–9 quoted in this narrative is taken directly from the World English Bible (WEB) translation.
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