She rides the dusty hills
astride a donkey to the
house of her cousin.
New life growing inside,
with a sense of trepidation.
She gave her consent,
but how will she explain?
What will her fiancé say?
Will he depart from her quietly
or bring her to justice,
the villagers stoning her to death?
There was whispering about
an old woman in the hills who—
But that would be a terrible sin;
the child is an innocent lamb.
She gave her promise willingly
when she told the angel, Gabriel,
“Behold I am the handmaid
of the Lord.”
Author notes
Author Notes: Thankfully, Mary was willing to bear the Christ child in spite of great peril to herself. My poem honors Mary who courageously became the Mother of God. It’s always been a thought of mine that others might have opted for an abortion as a way to avoid the trouble she faced.
~~~
The first-century Jewish historian and apologist Josephus wrote, "The Law orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus." A woman convicted of this was regarded as having committed infanticide, because she destroyed a soul and diminished the race.
In the birth narrative of the gospel according to Matthew, one of the most thoroughly Jewish of the New Testament documents, the story is told of Joseph's reaction to the news of his teenage fiancée’s premarital pregnancy. The solution that comes to Joseph's mind is divorce, not abortion. Divorce for unfaithfulness was acceptable; abortion unthinkable.
The above are excerpts from an article by Michael J. Gorman published in the May/June 1993 issue of Good News.
Accessed online at www.goodnewsmag.org June 26, 2008.
A contest entry
- for God sake... by PrabhuDayal Khattar.
300 points, ended July 9, 2008, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Title suggestions?
Comments
-
Excellent!!!!
-
ah..what an immagery and the message you brought bringing the depth to the issue raised here..well done....
-
Wonderful poem! Interesting telling of the simple, yet complicated event.
I appreciate both the poem and the author notes.
-
Very nice, "new life growing inside, with a sense of trepidation", implying that the sense of trepidation was also growing. Excellent "the child is an innocent lamb" ties in "behold, the Lamb of God" John 1:29.
Lovely concluding stanza, "She gave her promise willingly...Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord."
Definitely thoughts worth contemplating. The betrothal was known, and might often last a year. There may well have been personal slights or distain not only for herself, but for Joseph, who might be considered either foolishly forgiving or guiltily complicit in his betrothed's state.
Great author notes!
Adding your comment:
