Joseph--take two!!

I'm writing this in the hopes that you can give input.  I have revised my monolog "Joseph".  I'd like you to read it, and I'm hoping that this time I get responses from actors and from people that are grammarians.  I have two specific questions:  are there any mistakes grammatically?  As an actor, do you think it reads well?  Also, many of my monologs are written as poetry--line by line.  Do you think that this monolog should follow that rule?  I'm torn about it.

Thanks for any input you can give.

Joseph 

          I love her so much.  What is that to them, now?  Look at her, so absorbed in that baby.  How is it that this has happened to me? 

        

I always thought that I would live life alone, and I was content with that.  I liked being alone.  My thoughts were my own; my life was mine to rule.  I answered to no one.  Yes, it did get a little lonely from time to time, but even that was nice, in a way.  I could revel in the solitude, the silence, and the sense of pervasive stillness that filled my life.  And if I did ever feel the need for companionship, there were always my brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins...every one of them with a family of their own--loud, raucous, stridently breaking up the early morning stillness with their bickering, their banter, their hilarity.  I would find myself heading for home after a very short time, content once more with my solitary state.

        

And then I saw her.  She had always been in the periphery of my vision, so to speak, a quiet little thing--quiet, but not shy.  She seemed to be all eyes, to the point that the other children left her to her own devices.  There was something almost unnatural about her, about the way that she just--looked, as if she were keeping the events around her in some sort of ledger inside herself.  As she grew to be of marriageable age, this trait proved to make her somewhat less than desirable to the young suitors of Nazareth.  To the average man, this was not a woman to be favored.  Too much looking and too little talking were disconcerting to them.   But to me...I loved her the more for her silence.  She did not prattle on about inconsequential affairs, but when she did speak, her words spoke volumes.  I worked up my courage and asked for her hand.

Our courtship was not your normal one.  Yes, we did talk of our life together, as much as was necessary to understand her wants and needs for the future.  But that was not our main focus.  No, we discussed the Tanakh—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.  We loved to speak of He who is to come, Messiah--of the prophecies in all their confusion.  It was our favorite game.  How would he appear?  Would he be triumphant king or suffering servant?  Or could these conflicting descriptions somehow all apply to the same person?  How could that be?

Today, we have our answer, for this servant king is suckling on Mary’s breast.  Fully human, he cries when he is hungry, wet or cold.  His cries reach into my innermost being.  I never realized how much I could love someone who is not my own. But he is not just fully human.  The angels, the shepherds—the sky with its enormous star all have revealed him to be Messiah.  Messiah—my son.  It is true, and yet it doesn’t fit well on a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths.  How strange—living, he lies wrapped as one who is dead.  Yes, I know it’s necessary to keep him straight and strong, but it still troubles my heart.  I don’t want to think of my son, my beloved, and death.  My son…

My child, what will our future be?  Should I announce you as my son?  But you are not my son.  Should I put myself in danger of being called a naïve fool or worse by proclaiming the truth—you are Messiah, sent by God? What will Mary do?  I only have to look at your mother to know that she is not concerned about any of this.  Not in the slightest.  What secrets is she keeping? I feel that they are the first of many, and I know that she will keep them until the end of time.

God Vs God

I read the most interesting article yesterday in Christianity Today.  It spoke to the seeming difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New.  Many people say that there is too much difference--that they can't trust God because of his bloodthirsty nature.  Sure, Jesus was all mercy, but he had his moments, too.  Think about his attitude toward the moneylenders in the temple--not all sweetness and light there, was he?

The problem is that we tend to focus on God's vengeful nature in the Old Testament and his mercy in the New.  In fact, both are in both.  The punishment that comes in the Old Testament comes because people rebel against their God.  In the NT, there are many pointed references to the religious leaders of the day.  These are men who have turned away from the true God and are leading their people harshly, all the while rebelling against God in their own lives.  In the OT, the prophets spoke the words of God; in the NT, John the Baptist and Jesus spoke for him.  Prophets were despised; John was beheaded; Jesus was crucified.

But the OT doesn't just speak of punishment.  "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, then I will hear from heaven...and I will heal their land."  Rahab was spared from the Canaanite massacre and is called a woman of faith.  Jonah was angry at God because he went to Ninevah and warned them of God's wrath--and they listened and were spared!

The thing is, God desires fellowship with his people.  His people are called to righteousness.  If they heed the call, they are spared and chosen.  If they ignore him, they are turned away.  The results of being turned away are not pleasant.  However, God sent his Son Jesus to redeem us and make us righteousness.  As the article says, "The cross is God's defiance of himself....At the cross, God made a way for his mercy and love to triumph over his justice and judgement." (from the article "Can We Trust the God of Genocide" by Mark Buchanon, Christianity Today, July/Aug 2013)  In Christ, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10).  We can trust in God to be safe against God.

But remember, nothing has changed as far as God's wrath is concerned.  It is spelled out for us:  we are the called; we are the chosen.  We are given the call--the gift of salvation.  We can accept that call and live.  If we don't accept that call, well...

Many years ago, I spoke with a colleague, a westerner who was married to a Muslim.  (Remember that the culture of the Middle East was the culture of Jesus, the culture to whom the Bible was addressed,   When they heard the words, they understood instantly what was meant and there was no question.  It would be as easily understood as saying to an American "the groom carried his bride over the threshold at the start of their new life together".  It would be understood that the couple had been married and were entering their new home.)  She was a teacher, as am I, and it was grading time.  Anyone who taught in the days before computers knows what her coffee table must have looked like.  Her gradebook was in the middle, report cards beside it,  papers strewn about, a red pen in one hand and a blue pen in the other, and her mind totally on what she was doing.  Into all of this came her husband, a cup of tea in his hand.  "My darling, I've made you a cup of tea."  Without looking up, she said, "That's fine.  Just put it on the end table.  I'll get to it."  Without another word, the man left.

After a while, she came to a stopping point and remembered the tea.  She looked at the end table.  No tea.  She looked around the room--no tea anywhere.  Confused, she came into the kitchen.  There she saw the teacup, washed and put in the dish drainer.  Even more confused, she found her husband in the bedroom reading a magazine.  "Sweetheart, why didn't you put the tea down like I asked you to?"

"My love, you don't understand. You did not ask for that tea.  I knew you were busy and thought you would enjoy the gift of a cup of tea.  It was a gift, given out of love.  And you didn't even look at me.  You rejected it.  Therefore, it was taken away."  This was a valuable lesson.  If you are offered a gift, you must accept it.  If not, it is seen as rejection, not only of the gift but of the giver.  That rejection results in the gift being taken away and possibly even being given to someone else (the story of the wedding feast that nobody attended comes to mind).

Think of the gift we have been given.  God offers himself to us.  He gives us prophets to speak his words and call us to himself.  More than that, he gives his only Son.  He sends his Son to die for us, and to live with us and for us.  He has given us the most amazing gift.  However, that gift will not be available forever.  If we hear, it is up to us to respond.  Yes, it seems that the offer is going to be there forever.  But one day it will be taken away if we do not accept it.  God is love, but God is also righteousness.  How amazing that he sent his Son so that we can clothe ourselves in His righteousness and thereby be made acceptable to our father.

the pharisee

Hi everyone--

This is important to me. Please respond.  I have lots of these portraits--it's the major thing I've always wanted to publish. But how do I publish them?  What do you think they would do best as?  Monologs? Short stories/poetry?  Some sort of book of reflections?

I call them Biblical portraits.  They are pictures of men and women from the old and new testament, seen in a different way.

I would love your comments.  If enough of you comment for me to get a clear picture of what you think, I will follow the majority rule.

Thanks!

the pharisee

Matt 22:34ff, 23

Among my people, there is a saying

that if anyone could keep all the rules

all the laws

for one day

then Messiah would come.

All the rules.

All the laws.

There are over 600 laws recorded in the Torah.

We have laws which govern everything

we do not need to question anything.

It is all clearly spelled out.

Of course, it was not always so.

When our father, Adam, was created

there was only one law

do not eat the fruit.

Knowing he could not,

naturally he ate

and caused the curse to come upon us all.

Since that time, we have slowly become overwhelmed

by law

by rules

by regulations.

Eat this

do not eat that.

Wear this

do not wear that.

Associate with this group,

but not with those over there,

who worship a different way.

Actually, I do not mind it.

I see it as a challenge.

A goad to the intellect.

Who is following the law,

and who is not,

and for those who are not,

what shall the punishment be?

I was content

until he came.

This Jesus.

Who did he think he was?

Saying that all of the laws could be broken down

made into two:

The Shema:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and soul

 and mind

and the other like it:

love your neighbor as yourself.

I heard him that night, and at first I was amused,

even impressed

by his insight.

But that night,

alone in my room

with no other faces about me

 to reflect my superiority

I was forced to consider anew his words.

Love the Lord your God

Love God

Love the Lord

Love your neighbor

Love yourself

Love.

This is the difficulty.

Laws are easy to follow.

You know right away if you are right or wrong.

Everything is clearly spelled out

and punishment is swift and sure

for those who transgress.

But love?

What does law have to do with love?

I am a Pharisee.

One of the chosen--

chosen even among the chosen

elite.

A lawyer.

One who has made it his life's work to carry out

the law.

I know every law

all 613

and I ruthlessly search out those who transgress those laws

to prosecute

even kill

 if necessary,

so that the law may stand firm.

But if this man,

this Jesus

is right,

what happens to the law?

What happens to me?

No!

He cannot be right.

For if he is,

then he is God.

And if he is God,

then the law

and everything it stands for

must be different than I had thought.

But I spent my life in the study of the law.

I cannot be wrong.

The price is too high.

Therefore,

he cannot be God.

And if he,

not being God,

proclaims himself God,

then he must die

so that the word of the law may be fulfilled.

There is a tradition among my people

that if one man should uphold all the law

for one day

then Messiah would come.

As I watched him on the cross

a man who

it was said

had no guilt in him

it occurred to me:

could it be that the only man who could uphold the law

all the law

for one day

was the Messiah?

And was that man

Messiah

even now upholding the law

fulfilling the law

on that same cross?

No!

It could not be.

The price was too high.

Unless, of course,

you reasoned in the price

of love.