How do we encounter the divine?
Our focus this time of year naturally turns to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We recall a pastoral vision of Jesus’s birth, with shepherd attendants. And, of course, the angels who guide them.
In Matthew’s telling, we have several encounters with angels, who advise Joseph and the Wise Men about their future. Inviting them to engage with what God is doing in the world.
Most of us wonder whether we’d receive the angels so well. Or perhaps we assume that we would (we’re good, faithful Christians after all)!
There is also something not hypothetical about encountering the divine, because the divine is, after all, all around us. The bigger question is not Would we do what Joseph did in his situation? but Do we do what God calls us to in our present one?