Chapter 1 Going Home at Last

Mary stood on the top step of the Jerusalem temple, scanning the horizon for the familiar site of her beloved parents. From the corners of her eyes, she caught site of sunbeams colliding with the pure gold of the structure, then bouncing off and hurtling into space in all directions. She knew from experience that it hurt to look at the temple directly--it was just too bright. Perhaps that's why we can't see God, she whispered to herself--He's too bright as well. She briefly glanced behind her at the mammoth closed doors. Behind them, her friends and teachers, some of whom she'd known for 9 years, were either in class or toiling at the various aspects of the temple service--sewing altar cloths and garments, washing dishes, washing blood from the altar, etc. She hated that last part. Knowing she'd never have to do it again made the thought of going home to get married and live life in the world a prospect she relished.

Like so many famous heroes of the Torah, her parents were considered beyond the age of being able to have a child. Nonetheless, God answered her parents' prayers, and, as a gesture of gratitude, as well as in preparation for whatever special service to God she might be asked to give, Mary was consecrated to the service of the temple. She lived there full time, except for 3 weeks out of the year, when she was allowed to visit her parents in Nazareth. She had little memory of going to and from the temple at first, as she was only 3. But at one point, when she was 6, she remembered crying, screaming, and begging not to have to go back.

"Mary, Sweetheart, as you know, I was pretty old when I had you," her mother had said. " We were so grateful, your father and I both promised to give you to God for service to His temple until you were 12. It's a sacred and solemn promise we simply can't break. God has something very important for you to do. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be the mother of Messiah. Won't that be such a wonderful and special honor?"

"Mother of Messiah!" The words pierced like an arrow. The longing they brought up every time she thought about them was enough to take her breath away. Somehow, as years passed she found herself thinking that she wouldn't have been sent away from home if her parents truly loved her, and that her parents would surely have to love her if she were mother of Messiah. Now it was all she thought about. She just needed to go home, marry Isaac, the rabbi's son, who, as a bonus, was very easy on the eyes, and become the mother of the Savior of Israel.

She stopped herself, laughing inwardly. God would never ask a peasant girl, from a tiny backwater town, to be the mother of His Son. What was she thinking? And yet, it was always what she was thinking about. It tore her mind in two, "mother of Messiah," "not" ... "mother of Messiah" ... But from the day her mother first mentioned it, she vowed to be as perfect as she could be, just in case, for she knew that anyone chosen to be the mother of Messiah would surely, beyond all else, have to be righteous.

She'd made the mistake of sharing her dream with Rebecca. She'd sworn her friend to secrecy. Before she knew it, the news had spread all over the dorm. "Mary Goody-goody thinks she's gonna be Messiah's mother." From that day on, the girls' ridicule was almost unceasing. Her teachers had told the girls to stop mocking her, but that only occurred in their presence. When the girls were alone and out of earshot of the adults, they were relentless in their scorn. She reveled in the encouragement and respect of her teachers, but she had no real friends, and her life in the temple service was a very lonely one. She was glad to be going home.

Her eyes again strained into the distance. Was she imagining it, or was that almost imperceptible speck really coming toward her? Yes, she at last determined, it was--but was it her parents' cart? An eternity seemed to pass before she could distinguish that it was indeed her parents. She ran, unheeding, down the dangerously slippery steps and threw her arms around them when they arrived.

"Mom, Dad, you're here! This time I get to come home for good! I'm so glad!" In her heart she dreaded the thought that they might tell her she would be assigned to additional service.

"Yes, you do, as soon as we finish celebrating Passover," her father said, smiling. "We're both looking forward to getting to know better the beautiful young Lady God has created you to be." She felt her body involuntarily relaxing, only now realizing the tension she'd been carrying.

"Aren't any of your friends seeing you off?" her mother asked. "Surely you made friends being here all this time."

"O, no--there's no time for all that. Everyone has to stick to their tasks, especially so with Passover beginning tonight. There'll be time enough for goodbyes during the next week."

"Of course," her mother replied. "I should've thought about that." And yet, Mary thought, her mom nonetheless looked troubled.

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

Am very much impressed by the flow of the 'tale' and with your apparent eagerness to set it in modern terminology.

'
"Mary, Sweetheart, as you know, I was pretty old when I had you," her mother had said. " We were so grateful, your father and I both promised to give you to God for service to His temple until you were 12. It's a sacred and solemn promise we simply can't break. God has something very important for you to do. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be the mother of Messiah. Won't that be such a wonderful and special honor?"

As to the above example, as with what comes before and after, I had to read it twice to accept the language.. yet surely you wanted to carry the details into modern parlance.

[abletec]

Hey emmajoygreen, this is always a tough call. 1 of the reasons folks don't read the bible is they're put off by language they consider archaic or stodgy. My goal is to clear that barrier. Additionally, if young people especially see language they view as ancient of days, then they're going to put the book down like a hot potato. So yes--the goal is definitively to use modern parliance. Precisely how far to take that is always up for debate.

A couple other things--a lot of people forget that in the old King James English, there were 2 forms of the "you" pronoun. 1 was a formal "you", used when you were addressing someone you didn't know well or someone in authority. The 2nd was a more "familiar" you, like to your family or friends. The word for that sort of familiar you was "thou" and "thy for your. In our day, we say we use it as a form of reverence, but when the KJV Bible was translated, that was actually a very familiar form of address.

Lastly, there are some things in the Bible that are, either purposely or unintentionally, mistranslated. The passage in Philipians 3:8 where Pauls says he views everything as rubbish except for Christ was actually (& likely intentionally) mistranslated, as the word that was rendered as "rubbish", in the Greek would be more accurately translated as dog
you-know-what. That would likely give most of the old church ladies a heart attack were it translated literally. I typed a lot of Hubby's papers while he attended seminary,, as well as had the pleasure of speaking w/some of his profs firsthand, so I guess I have a little bit of an inside track on some of that. It's really quite interesting. All that is to say that the Bible isn't necessarily as formal a document as we've been led to believe. So, like I said, it is hard to know how far to take it, & some will enjoy it a lot while others are highly offended.

Thank you so much for the review. I was beginning to feel a little lonely.

[emmajoygreen]

Many people forget that much of the Bible consists of the language of the time it describes and - also forgets that much was written way after certain happenings were described.. There is always the knowledge that some translations were of previous translations.. sometimes not as was intended.The Bible is one of the most historical tomes but it needs a strong understanding to realise there are many words that are not entirely correct.

I found your writing more than more.. will return to read again and again.

[abletec]

Exactly, emmajoygreen. & as an extra added bonus, it leaves very fertile ground for fiction writers, plot guidance included! My goal really is to let folks know, through story, how very much God loves each & every person, know matter what they've done, or their circumstances in life, or a thousand other excuses we can all give why He shouldn't love us at all. You've given me just the nudge I need to continue. Thank you for that. I don't know if Emma Joy Green is your real name or not, but I think it's very pretty. & I appreciate your review.