Miracles

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son and he named him Jesus. In today's Gospel we read about the Immaculate Concepcion. An angel appears to Joseph telling him that Mary will give birth to the baby Jesus even though they had not been together. I wonder how surprised he was to find out that Mary was indeed pregnant - was the angel's account correct in that Mary's conception was miraculous? Did he at least wonder if Mary was fooling around behind his back - this would be a much more reasonable explanation, after all. But Joseph was a man of faith and he choose to believe in the miracle. Was there a miracle that I chose to believe in today even though it would be easier for me to believe something else? Today I led one of our chronic pain groups in a meditation that involved awareness of the breath. Normally we don't think much about the breath - our body breathes just fine on its own without our attention. But when I experienced my breath and gave it my full attention, I was indeed watching a miracle - the miracle of my own breath, the miracle of a living, breathing human body. Truly a grand design from a Master Creator.