Joseph wrestled the long, heavy plank from the pile of fragrant lumber stacked against the back of his shop. “Hope the boy’s alright.” He muttered to himself as he positioned the board so the best of the grain was centered on his worktable. “Silly kid should have been more careful, although I suppose that splinters come with the territory when you are a carpenter.” He clamped the thick lumber in place and turned to consider his tools.

“But still, it was a deep splinter, almost as long as the nails he was working on when it happened, pretty stoic he was, but there was a lot of blood. It’s better that he ran on home, Mary is so much better at that kind of stuff.”

Joseph made his selections and bent to his work. The clean scent of fresh shaved lumber filled the small building as his skilled hands smoothed and began to trim the wood. A banquet table began to take shape. This one for the oil merchant at the end of the western road, a rich man who could afford the lovely hardwood sent all the way from Rome.

A rich man. Joseph had once held more money in his hands at one time than he could expect to earn in a lifetime when the boy child they named Jesus was a babe. Heady stuff, the gold and riches that they took into the glitter of Egypt. After all, the boy is a King, and Kings had brought him tremendous wealth in gold and perfumes and spices.

All their friends’ relatives thought they should live like kings also. He considered purchasing a nice fine house back in his hometown where the family would live quite comfortably with a few servants. And some really fine camels. Top-of-the-line, of course. He even wondered how it would be to sit in the gates all day with the wise old men and discuss the deep things of life. But his clear-headed young wife thought otherwise, so they stayed in that stinky old stable until the mother and child could travel.

And then that angel showed up again, all holy and peaceful and magnificent. “Egypt. Take the family and flee to Egypt.”

Now that was an adventure.

Joseph chuckled to himself and as he stood to stretch his back. He gazed at the play of light from the late afternoon sun around his small shop. Today was Shabbat. He would just barely get the top smoothed down before he closed up for the Sabbath. He certainly missed his oldest son’s presence and help this afternoon. He was quite handy with the tools and showed a real talent for working the wood. In fact his chairs and sills and bowls were beautiful.

The sun’s rays sank lower and Joseph’s thoughts bounced here and there while his strong hands followed the rhythms of the plane he guided and the piles of shavings grew around his feet. Jesus would be the one to sweep them into a basket to bring home for the cook fire.

He smiled when he thought again about the treasures that carried them into and through the extremes of Egypt How quickly it was spent despite the fact that he and Mary learned to carefully shepherd the fortune. But he was always able find some work here and there as a carpenter. They had everything they needed. Sort of like the ancestors when they traveled in the dessert. Oh, there were a few splurges here and there, a treat or bauble, but the cost of living was unbelievably expensive and he was afraid to stay in one place very long. And they weren’t really accepted into that society of idle rich, no there were scams and beggars and thieves that demanded a share of the gold. And the camels weren’t really worth the exorbitant price after he added golden camel bells and silver whistles.

Joseph sometimes remembered the smells of Egypt that overwhelmed the scent of frankincense and myrrh as he planned a cedar log, He remembered the seductive waters of the River Nile, promising coolness and ease, yet treacherous with crocodiles and deceptive currents; no relief when sweat poured down his back while he measured and cut the planks to fashion a chair or pounded the wooden pegs into the logs to frame a doorway. He was glad they didn’t live there anymore.

Joseph actually thought for a while that perhaps the fortune was his right, after all he had married a pregnant woman. But then he would remember the shepherds and the star and realized that even though the young boy at his side was in truth a king, the palace Joseph could build him wasn’t made from marble walls.

Then the messenger from God woke him up again one night and told him to uproot his family and return to settle in Nazareth. There, they were again the outsiders. Their neighbors and the townspeople had heard the gossip and rumors of kings and virgin births and stars and Magi and a great fortune, but the family lived as humbly as anyone else.

Jacob, the tax collector interrupted his memories as he entered and stopped in the shade of the shed.

“Good evening, carpenter. I am here for the chest I ordered, the gift for my daughter’s wedding. I certainly expect you to have it finished.”

Joseph greeted him warmly.

“Certainly, right over here. My son rubbed the last coat of oil on it this morning.” He removed the protective cloth from a large and elaborate chest that he and Jesus had been working on for weeks.

“Well, I must say it is very nice.” Jacob took a sharp breath. “This is very nice.” He was expecting an inexpensive, serviceable chest, one that would do, but this was a well-made, work of art and his daughter (and his new in-laws) will think he generously spent a fortune on it.

After the two men strapped the furniture into Jacob’s donkey cart, they paused outside the shop.

“Tell me, Joseph, what was it like in Egypt? Where you really as rich as they say? Why did you come back to Nazareth, of all places?” Jacob looked wistfully around the dusty drab little town. “You’re a decent enough carpenter, but man, look at your hands, why do you do it? What were you thinking to give up Egypt to work here?”

“Well Jacob, I don’t really remember everything I thought at first. But you know what, I am a carpenter. And a father and a husband, at the end of the day, that is OK for me. All my family’s needs are met, abundantly. It makes me feel good. Like it is right and proper to work at this. I’m just as tired, and some days I am so bored I can think of many, many other things I would rather do than make nails and cups and yokes. But all and all, it’s a good feeling when I get home at the end of the day.”

Jacob shook his head slowly; “I suppose you do have something there. That wife of yours is a beauty and a great cook, I hear. Your children look normal enough, but there is something, well, deeper about all of you. Honest, too. My wife says that’s what wealth can buy, but you know something, the merchants over on the west-side have lots of money and they don’t ‘glow.’ Sometimes, it seems like there is so much more to it than that. There is something hopeful, wise and calm about you. I envy that, Joseph. I wish I had what you have.” The tax collector pulled on the donkey’s halter, ready to leave.

“Jacob, wait.” Joseph hesitated, unsure of how to explain the promise and the royal lineage of his oldest son. “I, um, live in the house of the Lord now…”

It was twilight when Jacob prodded the donkey awake and walked off toward his home. He certainly had a lot to think about. Joseph’s story of Messiah and shepherds and prophetesses in the Temple might have sounded outrageous, but what if…?

Joseph heard the laughter of the children as they tumbled down the narrow street and poured into the dark shop. It was too late to do any more work, but Joseph’s heart was full. He quietly prayed for Jacob as he closed the door and turned to the young faces waiting for him. Jesus danced, full of joy trying to get his attention, proud of his new wound from the very large splinter. The others were proud of him also, because the oldest had scars just like Joseph’s now, from working the wood.

And while they jostled happily for the privilege of a piggy-back ride home, Jesus’ voice rose above the younger brothers: “Lift me up, lift me up.”

Joseph grabbed and lit a torch and swung the oldest boy on his shoulders. Jesus held the light high as the joyful group headed noisily home where Mary waited in his warm and comfortable dwelling, the table already set. There would be no more domestic work until the Sabbath passed. She chattered about her success at the market. The best fruit and corn was always waiting for her and once again, she was able to negotiate the fairest price and the farmers always threw in a little extra. They settled into the meal and the comforts and safety of the home that Joseph built to house his Lord, the son of his wife. And peace, a peace that passes all understanding settled in blessing around his shoulders.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26  /  1 Corinthians 4:12