The Letter

I wrote the original of this more than 40 years ago while taking a writing course.  It has appeared in print elsewhere, so if you think you've seen it before, you may have.

The Letter

To Joseph ben Jacob,
The blessings of Jehovah.
I have received your letter marked
"Urgent."
Though it was last fall,
Though hundreds were enrolled,
You knew,
And I remember.
She was near her time.
He steadied her as
The beast she rode, stumbled.
Though they were home,
None of their relatives would take them in.
Everyone said, We are sorry, but ....
I found them in my stable.
It would have been a more awkward moment,
But we were all in the same basic boast.
Castouts.
I didn't know why they were.
I?
As a Jewish employee of the Roman establishment,
I am loved by neither Roman nor Jew.
That was how it was the morning I found them.
The birth was unexpectedly quick.
It seemed as though the son was--
Eager to be born.
Shepherds and wise men!
This was no ordinary family.
The husband was a carpenter, yet
Here were wise men
Unselfconsciously mingling with unwashed shepherds,
Offerings of gold and spices and a lamb.
The little woman and I did a lot of head scratching.
I talked to them.
Messiah?
We had waited so long.
But, a carpenter's son?
And born on the land of a Jew owned by Rome?
Worshipped by Gentiles?
Still, it was by the prophets
The right set of circumstances.
I am not the same man.
I have held Messiah in my arms.
I have seen Him draw
Jew and Gentile, wise and unlearned, outcast and accepted
Together.
He made us each whole, all, one.
That, my cousin Joseph, is the truth.
They're gone, now,
The family,
The shepherds,
The wise men.
I hope that you and your household are well.
I understand that you are one of
The most blessed in Arimethea.
If you deem it wise, you may share these faltering words
In synagogue.
Shalom!