I,
Joseph, son of Jacob,
can fashion
with ease and some skill
a stool to
sit on,
a table to eat from,
a boat to fish from
and a cot to lie on.
But,
when it comes
to the fashioning
of my life's tale,
I am left searching
for words.
In fact, searching is my life's tale.
After
the Shema,
my father Jacob taught me
his favourite passage from Isaiah:
'I
have not said to Jacob's sons
search for me in vain.'
This
promise upheld me
as I sought Yahweh's will
when Mary, my betrothed,
was
with child,
when there was no room in the inn
and my search seemed in vain;
when
I sought the road to Egypt
and the road home;
when we sought with sorrow
the
Child Jesus in Jerusalem.
Each time
the
searching was hard,
but never in vain.
In
my turn,
I recited the Shema
and Isaiah's promise
each evening
as
Mary lulled Jesus to sleep.
As a tiny lad,
He seemed to think life
one
long game of seeking him.
As we played 'hide and seek',
my heart thrilled
at the moment
his tiny arms enfolded me
and he laughed:
'I have not told
Jacob's son
to search for me in vain!'
