I've been writing these daily devotionals: Advent for Amateurs, because as a Baptist, not being steeped in the liturgical calendar of high church congregations, I wanted a way of remaining mindful of the season of Jesus' first coming.
Most recently, I turned to the birth narrative as related by the Gospel writer, Luke, which on close observation is a series of conversations interspersed with effusive poems or songs, like a musical production. This discovery made me a little giddy, as I was trying to turn the whole thing into a poem anyway.
Here's today's rendering of Luke 2:21-24. It reveals that Mary and Joseph were fastidious worshipers and that their family was God-hearing and God-fearing.
And on the 8th day of Jesus' Incarnation,
They went to circumcise Him and to the Temple to name Him,
The Law of Moses guided them there,
With truth, fidelity, obedience and care.
With a newborn baby 'they darkened the door,'
And offered the meager, but earnest sacrifice of the poor."*
*Jesus family solemnized the ritual of Mary's purification and the baby's dedication with "a pair of turtledoves or a pair of pigeons."
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