ASLC Devotions -- Monday

 13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Matthew 2:13

Sometime early in Advent I sifted through a file in my office labeled simply "Art." Through the years, I've clipped images from magazines, bulletin covers, postcards, calendars and tucked them into this file folder. I go through it occasionally, as a devotional practice. I re-discovered this past season an image of the holy family fleeing. They're portrayed loosely, and both Mary and Joseph have their heads turned as if looking behind them; Mary clutches the bundle I presume to be Jesus closely.

It's not the typical image that I carry with me of the holy family. More often I imagine them as they're seen in so many nativity sets, resting in adoration. This angel that comes to Joseph, though, sets them in motion again -- and in haste they go, go, go. I held that image in my mind during the season preparation, knowing as we must, what comes next. And while the family was fleeing from Herod, from a certain death, they were headed for safety, and they were headed for respite. 

Peace, 
Pastor Jenn