A dear friend just posted another meaning for the Bethlehem candle: Expectantly Waiting. I love it! Joseph was willing to travel to Bethlehem with expectant Mary because he trusted God. He believed the message from the angel of the Lord: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21). Joseph waited expectantly for this message to come true. Joseph's encounter with God enabled him to wait, to take action, to be courageous.
I can not help but return to the same long letter from Frank Laubach on May 24, 1930 as he describes his life continually encountering God: "I worry about nothing, and lose no sleep...Even the mirror reveals a new light in my eyes and face. I no longer feel in a hurry about anything...Nothing can go wrong except one thing. that is the God may slip from my mind if I do not keep on my guard. If He is there, the universe is with me. My task is simple and clear.
"And I witness to the way in which the world reacts. Take Lanao and the Moros for illustration. Their responsiveness is to me a continuous source of amazement. I do nothing that I can see except to pray for them, and to walk among them thinking of God. They know I am a Protestant; yet two of the leading Moslem priests have gone around the province telling everybody that I would help the people to know God."
Oh, that I may remember to expectantly wait and trust that God is at work!
(Mary and Joseph still traveling. They have moved from the philosophy section to the English teacher books -- poor Mary and Joseph! There are days when we expectantly wait with a window view, and other days when our wait is a little less exciting; nonetheless, the end of the wait will be worth it all.)
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