Hoping for A Peaceful Eve

for Liv
I stumbled upon this site while looking for another subject and realized the timing was serendipitous.
It's Christmas Eve, not Xmas. I didn't want to write negative complaints about it but instead remember good experiences: family, loved ones and the pleasures of living in their company. New life brings hope for a better tomorrow, and most importantly, a peaceful tomorrow. Use of bold face is my emphasis:
Many people might not realize that Jesus' Mother, Mary, faced in some ways similar problems to those which an unwed mother faces in today's modern world. According to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, verses 26 - 38: "In the 6th month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a Virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the Virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her the Angel said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what the Angel said to her and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the Angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name him Jesus." ..... But Mary said to the Angel, "How can this be since I have no relations with a man?" And the Angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the Child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth Your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing is impossible with God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
While Mary was Betrothed to Joseph, she was not according to Jewish Laws completely finished with the marriage ceremony, but because of her faith in God's words delivered by the Angel, she became an unwed, pregnant woman. According to the Jewish laws at that time as an unwed mother, she could have been taken out of the town and stoned to death.
What happened is explained in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 1, verses 19 - 25, "When Jesus Mother, Mary, was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her betrothed 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 in a dream, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him 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 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."
The post then goes on to discuss the role of faith and prayer to live a good life. Here is the link, which includes many beautiful pictures: http://www.silentscream.org/blessed.htm

Mary and Joseph were fearless radicals, letting their faith in a higher purpose guide them above the taunts and rejections of the "good citizens." They had faith and hope. Being a progressive requires an enormous amount of faith in the human spirit. When this faith is profoundly informed by knowledge and a deliberate investigation of self-motivation, an enormous hope for change generates within and will sustain you from fear of change. Hope provides liberation from conformity and “nice,” the twin sisters of mind control or the many other obstacles to enlightenment and freedom. Such is the strength of hope that even when encountering bigots and narrow minded, bootlicking lackeys for the corporate elite, feeling their constant physical threats, both overt and covert in body language, as they attempt to goad you into meandering arguments just this side of the Twilight Zone -- “How did I get here?” episodes, and topped off by slanderous, indignant proclamations on your lack of patriotism and/or welfare-needy, lazy-assed dependence on their enormous generosity, you can look back and say, “I want better than that for me and even for that Neanderthal!” Yeah! I said that!
Let’s resolve to not let the little differences take center stage. Let’s pray, meditate on, mull over the concepts of faith and hope, of new life in whatever form it takes and most of all, of solidarity to our mission and, if possible, to each other, with liberty and diversity for all.