I couldn’t think of a single Christmas song about Joseph. I was casting about for stories that might lend themselves to Christmas songtelling and I practically stumbled over Joseph. He was right there in the middle of the Nativity scene, right there in the thick of it all, and so easy to overlook. Nativity carols are all about Mary and Jesus and Wise Men and Shepherds and Angels. They’re even about donkeys and kids with drums. But who’s that guy standing there so close to Mary? What’s his role in this thing? I’ve since discovered that there actually are a few songs that feature Joseph, but not many, and they aren’t very well known and they don’t always present him in the most favorable light.
So, hmmm . . . what about Joseph? Well, I guess I’ve always just thought of him as sort of Mary’s support system—cared for her, provided for her, protected her. I mean, after he got over the initial shock and was on board with the whole thing, he stepped right up and took care of business; by all accounts a conscientious and dutiful and doting husband. Kudos. But how was he actually dealing with this immense turn of events in his life?
I picture him stumbling around and mumbling to himself a lot and maybe even hyperventilating. Probably kept a bag handy to breathe slow, shallow breaths into. I think it’s probably true that all expectant fathers are beset by some degree of feeling helpless and inadequate, so Joseph must have been bug-eyed-and-shaking-in-his-boots terrified. What in the world was he going to be able to do to fill this unimaginable position—The Earthly Father Of God Incarnate?
What is expected of me? What is my actual job here? How’m I gonna do this? Okay, well, let’s start with the basics: I’m a good man; a pretty good provider; I’ve got a trade, I’m a carpenter. So for starters, I can teach him how to be a carpenter. It’s not the most important job in the world but it’s honest work. I can teach him to work with his hands.
So it seems to me that Joseph was given the task of teaching the boy Jesus about how a man walks and talks and behaves in this world. And he taught him about how we use these earthly hands to shape and mold and craft the world into what is useful and necessary to our lives. It seems to me that Joseph was there to teach Jesus how to live as one of us, how to live as one who is measured by time and space.
Only Joseph
words and music © Garrison Doles
from his CD Songmaker’s Christmas
1.
Mary, sweet Mary, I did not believe you
Forgive me for doubting, you never would lie
I’m out of my head here, just trying to keep up
It all seems so big like the stars or the sky
But I can tell by the look on your face
It’s gonna be all right, it’s covered by grace
refrain
Who am I here? Under the heavens
Who am I here? In all the land
Only Joseph, I am only Joseph
But I can teach Him to work with His hands
bridge
I never knew the universe was so vast
Or could come so close to my life
Feels like the hand of God is stirring in the world
And in the womb of my wife
2.
Mary, sweet Mary, I need to believe you
I know that you understand more than I do
It’s all been so much and I don’t know what’s happening
The stars are all different, somehow they are new
But I can tell by the look on your face
It’s gonna be all right, it’s covered by grace
refrain
Who am I here? Under the heavens
Who am I here? In all the land
Only Joseph, I am only Joseph
But I can teach Him to work with His hands
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