The Bagel

"Deci nu ai un barbat (So you don't have a husband)?" she asks me, her dirty face upturned and scrutinizing.  I shake my head and smile at her question.  Her feet are bare despite the freezing cold that's seeping in through the half open door of what can only be described as a shack.  Her brother and sister stand next to her, shifting from foot to foot, fingers in mouths, ogling my thick winter coat and glove-clad fingers.  Noses run, shoulders shake with shivers.  The only heat in the room comes from a rusty stove in the corner that belches smoke at intervals. 

My small inquisitor touches my face hesistantly, her blue eyes curious as her tiny hand moves up to my long brown hair.  Abruptly, she grabs my hands and opens my arms for me, climbing up into my lap.  I raise an eyebrow at her mother who squats across from me against a mud wall, nursing an infant.  She smiles shyly at me, and from the corner of my eye, I catch her smoothing her thick, tangled black hair into something more presentable.

"Nu," I say.  "Nu am un barbat (I don't have a husband).  Nu sunt frumoasa, ca si maica ta (I'm not beautiful like your mom)."  I wink at her and she blushes and turns away grinning at the unexpected compliment.  I realize she probably rarely gets them.  The woman's mother, Adinutsa, is standing near the stove, gabbing with Dina, my Danish counterpart.

"Vai Doamne," she expostulates in a whisper.  "You wouldn't believe this idiot husband of hers," she says, gesturing at her daughter.  "Last week, she comes home, kids in tow, and finds him in bed with the neighbor, that slut."  She spits on the ground to emphasize her distaste.  "I mean, I know, a man is a man, but a man should at least provide for his family if he's going to go whoring around or come home stone drunk.  This tampit doesn't even have a job!"  Dina nods and purses her lips as the young mother sitting across from me puts her head down, her face impossible to read.

The little girl in my lap has been talking the entire time, telling me about her day, and her friend from down the street and how he wants to be a policeman.  Her brother and sister have been inching towards me, emboldened by their sister's actions.  They come even closer when I take a few peppermint candies out of my pocket.  Suddenly, the little girl in my arms starts coughing violently.  Dina looks up.

"How long has she had that cough, Adinutsa?"  The older woman shrugs.

"Weeks!  And what am I supposed to do about it?  Me, a widow, with a bunch of kids and a daughter with a sh*tty husband."

"I'll get some medicine when we swing back by the school," Dina says, standing.  "If you'll excuse us, we'll go do just that."  I follow Dina's example and place my tiny charge back on the floor and give her a loud kiss on the cheek.  She giggles herself into another coughing fit.

"Well," Dina continues in English outside.  "That's basically what life is like, here.  The men go sleep around and get drunk and their families have to put up with it.  They can't find jobs because no one wants to hire gypsies.  And I'm sorry to say it, but those who do hire them often regret it."  She stops to speak with a bent over old woman crossing the street.  I look around me at the shanty town that has grown up on the outskirts of Cluj.  Shacks stand wall-to-wall, constructed out of shoddy concrete and rusty sheet iron.  Dirty children without proper clothing or shoes follow us on our journey, fascinated by the oddly-accented foreigners that have intruded on their little village.  Some get bold enough to run up and hit me on the leg or backside randomly, and then run giggling back to their friends.

"That's not nice!" I turn around and say, with a small smile on my face.  "I won't play with you anymore if you keep hitting."  They laugh over my mispronounced words and strange cadence.

All of a sudden, a police car comes trundling along the unpaved dirt roads, stopping at a house in front of us.  Two officers with beer bellies and bald patches step out, dragging a 12- or 13-year-old girl with them.  The girl is  unrepentent, smiling at her little friends at the door of her house.

"Doamna," says one of the policeman to the woman who comes to the door.  "Ligia's been picking pockets again down at the piatsa."  The woman, Ligia's mother, I presume, reaches out and gives Ligia a swift slap to the head and drags her by the ear into the house.  Without another word to the police officers, she shuts the door in their faces.  Dina, who has noticed the scene, sighs.

"And no one will ever teach her any different," she says.  "These kids weren't born in hospitals, so they don't exist, according to the state.  They don't have birth certificates or identification cards, so they can't go to school or find legitimate work.  The government can throw them in prison any time they want for whatever reason because they don't have ID.  They can't get healthcare, they can't get anything..." she trails off.  "It's a grim existence.  The Rroma are hated everywhere in Europe, but especially here in Romania.  Anzi and Marcu set up this school to try to change their fortunes.  It's been a long hard road to get them to trust us, and we're making significant strides, but...they're too set in their ways.  You know, the Rroma were slaves in this country up until the 19th century.  How do you come back from that?  How do you come back from that when no one has ever made an effort to help you?"

 

''If you suffer your people to be ill-educated and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded but that you first make thieves and then punish them?"  --Thomas More, Utopia.

 

Things that are awesome about exercising/weight loss:

1) Having a dress that was a wee bit too tight a few months ago, now be too big.
2) Recognizing the muscular thighs from high school soccer.
3) Seeing the muscular calves from post-Israel.
3) Running a mile+ without stopping and feeling pumped to do even more--you may scoff, but soccer fiend as I was, I could never do long distances.
4) Being able to satisfy cravings for chocolate without going overboard.
5) Not eating when bored.
6) Not eating when other people eat out of a feeling of obligation.
7) Watching the number on the scale quickly subtracting that extra 15 lbs. post-Romania.
8) Feeling sore...makes me feel accomplished.
9) Finding a workout partner--even if it's long distance.
10) Feeling ever so slightly more confident.
11) Being brave enough to at least consider trying on a bikini in the near future.
12) Looking smoking hot at bestie's wedding in August.
13) Setting a goal and reaching it.

13 lbs. down, 7 lbs. to go.  Or more.  Who knows?  I like working out too much to quit, now.  I used to laugh at the idea of a runner's high, and proclaim that I would never run unless chased.  But I actually quite enjoy it.  I enjoy everything about the gym, which used to be a dark haven for skinny beauties with perfectly coiffed hair and flawless make-up who could run for hours and never pant or sweat.  Now I laugh in the face of the self-esteem-crippling danger they present.  I feel like I'm changing...in a good way.

Me: I've only had a couple brushes with fame.  You know that lady who was Whoopi Goldberg's daughter in Rat Race? 

Meg: ..No.

Me: Well...I met her on a plane.

Meg: Well I've met (some NFL star) and (some snowboarder).

Me: I met Pat Robertson.

Meg: Really?!  No way!!

Me: Yes way.  My dad used to kinda work for him.

Meg: Wait...your dad worked for Edward Cullen?  That's weird.

Me: ....

 

 

 

 

 

 Hm.......................Close.

Same smouldering eyes and playboy smile.

Don't forget the reason for the season!

Luke 22-24:

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

 ¹Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, ²and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. ³Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. ⁴And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. ⁵They were delighted and agreed to give him money. ⁶He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

 

The Last Supper

 ⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

 ⁹"Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.

 ¹⁰He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹²He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."

 ¹³They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

 ¹⁴When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

 ¹⁷After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

 ¹⁹And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

 ²⁰In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ²¹But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²²The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." ²³They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

 ²⁴Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. ²⁸You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, ³⁰so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 ³¹"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you^[a] as wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

 ³³But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

 ³⁴Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

 ³⁵Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"
      "Nothing," they answered.

 ³⁶He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'^[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."

 ³⁸The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords."
      "That is enough," he replied.

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

 ³⁹Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." ⁴¹He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴²"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." ⁴³An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.^[c]

 ⁴⁵When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Jesus Arrested

 ⁴⁷While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

 ⁴⁹When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" ⁵⁰And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

 ⁵¹But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.

 ⁵²Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns."

Peter Disowns Jesus

 ⁵⁴Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."

 ⁵⁷But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.

 ⁵⁸A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them."
      "Man, I am not!" Peter replied.

 ⁵⁹About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."

 ⁶⁰Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." ⁶²And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The Guards Mock Jesus

 ⁶³The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. ⁶⁴They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" ⁶⁵And they said many other insulting things to him.

 

Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

 ⁶⁶At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷"If you are the Christ,^[d]" they said, "tell us."

   Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

 ⁷⁰They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
      He replied, "You are right in saying I am."

 ⁷¹Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."

¹Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ,^[a] a king."

 ³So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
      "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

 ⁴Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."

 ⁵But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea^[b]by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

 ⁶On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

 ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. ⁹He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

 ¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."^[c]

 ¹⁸With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

 ²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

 ²²For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."

 ²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion

 ²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' ³⁰Then
   " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!"
      and to the hills, "Cover us!" '^{[d] 31}For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

 ³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."^[e] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

 ³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

 ³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

 ³⁸There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

 ⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

 ⁴²Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[f]"

 ⁴³Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death

 ⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

 ⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus' Burial

 ⁵⁰Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵²Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. ⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

 ⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

The Resurrection

 ¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " ⁸Then they remembered his words.

 ⁹When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

 ¹³Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶but they were kept from recognizing him.

 ¹⁷He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"

   They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"

 ¹⁹"What things?" he asked.

   "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."

 ²⁵He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Christ^[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

 ²⁸As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.

 ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

 ³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." ³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

 ³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

 ³⁷They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

 ⁴⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate it in their presence.

 ⁴⁴He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

 ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

The Ascension

 ⁵⁰When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵²Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Don't worry, Bagel's not getting all uppity and political. 

She's just saying that people suck.  Generally. 

Because I'll be rather busy for the next couple of days (primarily wrangling for primacy in the kitchen with my sister...someone's going to end up in tears), I thought I'd send my "Merry Christmases" out into the Vox world, now.  May you all have a lovely holiday, filled with fun, family and friends.  And may you also remember the reason we're all celebrating today:

(Copied from "The Message")

Luke 1:26-56

"A Virgin Conceives

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

   Good morning!
   You're beautiful with God's beauty,
   Beautiful inside and out!
   God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

   He will be great,
      be called 'Son of the Highest.'
   The Lord God will give him
      the throne of his father David;
   He will rule Jacob's house forever—
      no end, ever, to his kingdom."

Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

The angel answered,

   The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
      the power of the Highest hover over you;
   Therefore, the child you bring to birth
      will be called Holy, Son of God.

"And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."

   And Mary said,

   Yes, I see it all now:
      I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
   Let it be with me
      just as you say.

   Then the angel left her.

Blessed Among Women

Mary didn't waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah's house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

   You're so blessed among women,
      and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
   And why am I so blessed that
      the mother of my Lord visits me?
   The moment the sound of your
      greeting entered my ears,
   The babe in my womb
      skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
   Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
      believed every word would come true!

And Mary said,

   I'm bursting with God-news;
      I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
      God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
      I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
   What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
      the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
   His mercy flows in wave after wave
      on those who are in awe before him.
   He bared his arm and showed his strength,
      scattered the bluffing braggarts.
   He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
      pulled victims out of the mud.
   The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
      the callous rich were left out in the cold.
   He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
      he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
   It's exactly what he promised,
      beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home

Luke 2:1-40

The Birth of Jesus

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

An Event for Everyone

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

Blessings

When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.

Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God's Law: "Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God," and also to sacrifice the "pair of doves or two young pigeons" prescribed in God's Law.

In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

   God, you can now release your servant;
      release me in peace as you promised.
   With my own eyes I've seen your salvation;
      it's now out in the open for everyone to see:
   A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
      and of glory for your people Israel.

Jesus' father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,

   This child marks both the failure and
      the recovery of many in Israel,
   A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
      the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
   But the rejection will force honesty,
      as God reveals who they really are.

Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.

 

Matthew 1:18-25

"The Birth of Jesus

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

   Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
   They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").

Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus."

 

Matthew 2:1-23

Scholars from the East

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod's kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, "Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to worship him."

When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:

   It's you, Bethlehem, in Judah's land,
      no longer bringing up the rear.
   From you will come the leader
      who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel."

Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, "Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I'll join you at once in your worship."

Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

After the scholars were gone, God's angel showed up again in Joseph's dream and commanded, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him."

Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod's death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: "I called my son out of Egypt."

Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he'd gotten from the scholars.) That's when Jeremiah's sermon was fulfilled:

   A sound was heard in Ramah,
         weeping and much lament.
   Rachel weeping for her children,
         Rachel refusing all solace,
   Her children gone,
      dead and buried.

Later, when Herod died, God's angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: "Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead."

Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, "He shall be called a Nazarene." "

 

To read the fulfillment of prophecy and about Jesus' life, go here for the full story.  I urge you to do so, because as I often say, Christian churches in America often aren't representative of the life and teachings of Christ.  See for yourself how we're supposed to live--in love, faith, hope and charity--and draw your own conclusions.  God gave us free will!  Use it!

 

To conclude, allow me one more piece of scripture, probably the most well-known verse of the Bible:

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."