Joseph Meets Jesus Gouache Painting

The stories around him are limited. I think about Joseph at the nativity scene. When this woman he is just getting to know goes into labor in a place where there are no midwives or women to help with the delivery. A man, almost never in the delivery room at this time, is left to care for and comfort a teenager whom, I imagine, is terrified. But at the end when the calm brushes over, the angels and Shepards and wise men all leave, Joseph is there. He holds his new born baby in his hands knowing that this child will change the world. Not knowing, we won’t live long enough to witness it. But here, in this moment, with the fading fire light allowing them to see each other, he can see the world. For his little child, this soft, fleshy, fragile little being, will light the way.