Christmas Eve 2017: What was Joseph doing?

We know what Mary was doing on the night Jesus was born, but what was Joseph doing?

No, I think it most unlikely he would have been helping Mary to give birth. That was a female duty and it is inconceivable that local women would not have rallied round to assist a young woman in labour with her first child, whatever the circumstances.

While the midwives or Joseph's female relatives of Bethlehem supported Mary through labour and the birth of her firstborn son, what did Joseph do? Stay nearby to protect her? Most probably, but it would have been hard to do nothing through the long hours of waiting and wanting do help but feeling helpless.

So, there's plenty of room to imagine what Joseph might have done during the hours of Mary's labour. 

Thanks to Byrony Taylor's post I came across an animated poem by Nick Morgan about how Joseph might have kept busy. It is imaginative, simple and profound. I am grateful to Nick Morgan for giving it a Creative Commons licence so it can be shared more widely.

'The Table' is well worth a watch and listen. I think it gets right to the heart of the Christmas message. What do you think?

Image Credit: Waiting for the Word on Flickr, Creative Commons