He is a silent actor in the drama. Mary may sing her songs; he holds his peace. But (heaven knows) he is a man who listens and he obeys each time an angel speaks. Obeys without a murmur, though his life— so calm, so ordered, as he plies his awl— is overturned and swept into a story in which he doesn’t get a speaking role. So silently he treads beside the donkey and silently he helps a girl give birth and silently he brings them safe to Egypt and safely home and then for what it’s worth (heaven surely knows) goes back to shaving wood and is a father to the Son of God.
Joseph
Joseph
Joseph
He is a silent actor in the drama. Mary may sing her songs; he holds his peace. But (heaven knows) he is a man who listens and he obeys each time an angel speaks. Obeys without a murmur, though his life— so calm, so ordered, as he plies his awl— is overturned and swept into a story in which he doesn’t get a speaking role. So silently he treads beside the donkey and silently he helps a girl give birth and silently he brings them safe to Egypt and safely home and then for what it’s worth (heaven surely knows) goes back to shaving wood and is a father to the Son of God.