| As I sat down to write about Joseph and the virtue of courage, I realized
how in every Gospel story, Joseph never seems deterred by danger and in a very heroic way is always doing the right thing. No wonder God chose him as father for his son; he’s valiant and determined.
Just as I was musing over this, a colleague stopped into my office and our conversation turned to the different ways God has gifted all of us. She related a situation where she was pretty sure God hadn’t gifted her in a way that equipped her to better handle it. I replied that I thought she was wrong - I had seen and recognized that gift in her before. And suddenly, it was as if someone else had taken over my mouth. I could hear the words, but they weren’t words I had thought to say, they were just coming from me, "You know, sometimes we lean so hard into one or more gifts from God, that we can’t even see how God has gifted us in other ways. Perhaps that gift you don’t think you have
is one that you just haven’t leaned into yet."
Huh? Where did that come from? As she left my office, I turned back to Joseph and immediately thought, was Joseph always courageous or did the situation call that virtue forth from him? We aren’t really told much
about Joseph’s background. We know his ancestors were from Bethlehem because he and Mary had to travel back there for the census as she was about to give birth. A flurry of thoughts then came to mind on how Joseph would have had to lean into and hone the virtue of courage from the moment of his dream onward, and here’s how that played out.
According to the
Jewish custom of the time, persons betrothed in marriage, celebrated the marriage in two stages. The first was a contract stage where consent to the betrothal was given and preparations were made to make a home together. This stage would last a year; the couple were married but not living together – that’s what betrothal meant. In the second stage, the husband would take his wife into his home, at which time there would be a great wedding feast. Taking Mary into his home before the wedding feast would have been a break from tradition and a very courageous move for Joseph.
Next I thought about the angel in his dream. He called him, "Joseph, son of David", and told him not to fear. Joseph knew his family was of the Davidic line and that Scripture told the promised Savior would not only be from this line but would be born to a virgin. I could imagine Joseph waking up from his dream just
as surprised as I was when my colleague left my office. Huh? Where did that come from? But suddenly, it all made sense to him! His faith and trust in God would tell him it was time to lean in to the virtue of courage, which undeterred, bravely and heroically, is just what he did.
Today's reflection was written by Regina Wright, Program Coordinator
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