The carpenter smashed his mallet hard upon the table, picked it up again, and threw it against the wall. Then he turned and kicked at the door until his foot was numb. Circling the room in a dance of madness, the young man came at last to the centre of the room, placed his hands over his ears, threw back his head, and screamed at the top of his voice. When he could do that no longer, Joseph dropped to the floor, buried his face in the sawdust, and wept uncontrollably.
He raised his head, and between dry lips, cried, “Mary, Mary, how could you do this? Of all the women upon the face of the earth! You of all people! How could you do this?”
One more Joseph clenched his fists and, as in some ceremonial cadence, began beating the floor.
“Everything about her said she loved her Lord,” the young man anguished. “She was the purest thing I have ever known. If Mary cannot be trusted, then no man can trust any woman who ever lived!”
He stood and cried out again. “How could she do this? It is inconceivable. How? How?” The sobs exploded from Joseph’s soul. “I will never marry her. I will never marry anyone. I will never trust another woman. Never!”
Emotionally spent, and on the edge of exhaustion, the young carpenter fell once more to the floor and cried himself to sleep.
At that moment, the Door swung open. Gabriel slipped through the portal, surveyed the destruction Joseph had inflicted upon his wood shop, and then, tenderly, knelt beside the young man who was lost in fitful sleep.
“Son of David, Joseph. Do not be afraid. Take Mary as your wife. The child in her was conceived of the Holy Spirit. When he is born, call his name Jesus. This is that One who will save his people from their sins.”
Joseph moved slightly, let out a long sigh, and began to breathe evenly. The agonising groans that had been rising from his throat ceased. Gently Gabriel laid his hand upon Joseph’s forehead and waited, waited until his sleep flowed evenly and peace had worked its way across his face.
Then Gabriel spoke again.
“Our God has well chosen the man who will raise the very Son of the Most High God. And, Joseph, as you will learn in the days and years to come, God has also well chosen his mother, and your wife.
With that, Gabriel slipped back through the Door and into his own realm. Joseph opened his eyes. What he saw was a room, no, an entire world, quite changed from what it had been just a few hours earlier.
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