If, as the Christmas season approaches, thoughts of pressure and haste try to crowd out our consciousness of good will and peace, of completeness and health, we have but to remember and follow the lessons of faith in the story of Jesus' nativity.
When first the angel thought came to Mary to tell her that she was to be the mother of Jesus, she was troubled and asked how that could be. The angel was reassuring, explaining that the child was to be the "Son of God" and that "with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). Mary's acceptance of the truth and her declaration, "Be it unto me according to thy word," must have dispelled any troubling doubts, for no questions followed. She went immediately to her cousin Elisabeth and poured out to her, not doubts or wonderings concerning the baby, but her great gratitude to God: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." That was only the beginning of her paean of praise for all that God had done. Only a consciousness which held no doubt of the fulfillment of God's promise could have given expression to such gratitude.
Joseph too had to have faith in the vision which explained the reason of Mary's condition. The same faith in God's messages later enabled him to hear the angel telling him to take Mary and the young child into Egypt for protection.
