The Least, The Lost, The Lonely

This time of year can be very hard for many. I have
been pondering 'loneliness.' It has taken me back
to the time of Job and Abraham, to Samuel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, King David, Esther, Ruth, Naomi, and to
Jesus. No one expects loneliness, leastness, but for
most of us, our lives are lived between the moun-
tain peaks of fullness, plenty, good health and close
friends.Yes, we have face time, twitter, texting and
the telephone, but it doesn't replace a cup of coffee
and a real person. :)

I think Mary was one of the loneliest of women.
We don't know what her family and friends believed
about her pregnancy--gossip. The baby was born
without her mother. Mary was probably not more
than fifteen or sixteen. The Bible does not speak of
a midwife in attendance but in my minds eye, I can
see her...What we do see shows a happy couple and
the baby, but birth is messy, exhausting, and scary.
Added to all of this was poverty.

It is when our expectations don't line up with reality
that we get into trouble.