Inner Strength

December 29, 2024

Feast of the Holy Family; Luke 2:41-52

My mother had a hard time relating to Mary, Jesus’ mother. My mom would say, “She only had one kid – and he was God!” Now, in defense of me and my three siblings, I want to say that we were always under the impression that we were, in fact, divine. Whenever my mom would call us, she would say something like, “Oh my god, what have you done now?!” I mean, what’s a kid to think?

Mary and Joseph had a rough start to their marriage. We all know that. A marriage that starts under a cloud of mistrust and suspicion usually won’t last. And yet, Mary and Joseph were able to work through their questions and live a good life. What little scripture tells us of Joseph, we know he cared for Jesus and Mary, unfailingly.

If the birth of Jesus had occurred in today’s world, they would have faced an uphill battle just as they did in their own time. Perhaps general society would be more forgiving today, but I doubt the church would be. The Holy Family would face the same skepticism and scrutiny in 2024 as they did in the year zero. Back then it was the Jewish hierarchy looking askance, now it would be the righteous “Christians.”

Mary and Joseph relied on their own faith and belief in goodness and love. Then, just as today, they could not go to the synagogue and get comfort or advice from the high priests. In their own day, their neighbors shunned them and, I imagine, their families were not too particularly happy with them either.

So where did Mary and Joseph get their inner strength to persevere and bring Jesus into the world? From their abiding faith in a loving God. Clearly the parents of both Joseph and Mary had done a good job of instilling a knowledge of God into their children. And it was a God of love and mercy that Joseph and Mary knew. How else could they have gone on, faced the neighbors, family, and others they met throughout their lives?

It is sad when I hear anyone saying things about how God is angry, or God is punishing you/us/them/me. And it is usually church-going folks who say that kind of thing. Their religion has let them down. God is a lot of things, but God is never angry or vengeful.

That is the message that I need to share with my life. I want people to know how loving God is and how we cannot make God mad at us. We do not need sacrifice or offerings to redeem anything about ourselves. God is not far away or out of reach. God is as close my heart. When I want to talk to God, all I need to do is quiet myself and God is there listening to me and speaking to me.

I am made in the image of God. That means I am good. And each and every person I see in my day-to-day life is good too, because God made us all in God’s image. Our likeness might vary from person to person, but the inner image of God is the same. I have to work to remember that when I get challenged by the actions, words, or thoughts of others. I need to look beyond those worldly deeds and see the goodness deep inside them and just love them.

Every Day.

© 2024 by Timothy J. Doppel

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