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Book Information
Genre:
FICTION / General
Publication:
Nov 06, 2009
Pages:
297
Books by Er Nuylan
"Mary!" his father Joachim, comes charging in, grabbing her. ""How did this happen?"" "I'm pregnant by the power of God and the Holy Spirit." "God is a spirit and doesn't go around cohabiting with and impregnating women!"" Joachim shouts.""Any claim as such is a myth! Wait..."" he says, "Who was the only man with you in these last three months you were away from us?" He knows. And wails - "the people's compliance with Mosaic Laws, forces them to cast the stone, demanding death.""
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Mary, Who Did You Sleep With?
"I don't know how to tell you this." Mary’s constant companion and guardian Martha said, thinking of how best to tell her Cousin Mary’s parents about the problem.
"What is it?" Mary’s father, Joachim, sat down slowly, keeping his eyes glued on her.
She fumbled with a few words in an attempt to phrase it well, but realized that there was no way to say it differently. Any attempt to sugarcoat the situation was futile. She knew the impact would jolt the couple out of their wits no matter how she told it.
“I feel I'm partly to blame for this. I didn't watch Mary well enough." She paused and bit her lip. "Mary is pregnant."
"She is...what?" Mary’s parents asked, almost simultaneously.
Joachim stood and rushed to his daughter's room, with Anne and Martha in tow.
In her room, Mary had not gone to bed yet. She was on her knees in prayer. She wanted to tell her parents about her situation, but finding no courage, her only recourse was to pray. However, as the course of things went, she did not need the courage to disclose her predicament.
Martha divulged it for her.
However heavy the door was, it was pushed with a thud - as far back as the wall it was hinged on.
"Mary! Joachim came charging in. He grabbed Mary by the shoulders, lifted her up from her knees to stand face to face with him and shook her repeatedly. "How did this happen? How?”
His voice thundered, demanding for answers. And when nothing came, he forced her to sit down on her bed and pushed her.
She fell back.
Though shocked at her father's violent actions which she had never experienced before, she managed to sit. She slid, retreating away, back against the wall.
He reached out, grabbed her robe, tearing it open to reveal her belly, and froze at the sight.
There was no denying the bulge in her belly. It was abnormally large. Without doubt, she was pregnant.
His wife, Anne, who wanted to restrain him from further violent actions, was stunned to silence. She looked at her daughter's exposed belly and grimaced in the recognition of the fact.
Mary was numbed with how swiftly these events took place. She looked dumbstruck for some moments, mouth opened but unable to say anything; her eyes streaming with tears. She closed them, and let out a muffled cry, pushing herself further to the wall, pulling on her garment to cover up.
Her mother rushed to her side instinctively, covering her with her own body, hugging and protecting her, crying with her.
Martha could not look at the scene. She bit her lip and turned away, shaking her head.
Mother and daughter remained locked in their embrace until Mary's cries turned into sobs.
The father's anger - inspired strength ebbed and he sat by the bed, hands on his knees, looking down. He felt he had lost power and whatever strength he had left was not enough to prop himself up.
"What happened, Mary?" he asked, calmly, "Did you sleep with Joseph before you went to Judea?"
"Did you, Mary?" Anne followed up her husband’s question. She knew what that meant.
"If you did sleep with Joseph...it couldn’t be much too serious," he said, "Husbands can exercise the right to check the virginity of the betrothed." The practice was not uncommon, he thought. In most instances, it was enough to simply explicitly state in the marriage contract that the girl was a virgin upon betrothal, however, the husband could test to prove should there be any doubt.
Mary was silent.
She did not say anything nor make any sign to indicate an answer.
"Fine," Joachim said, "We shall talk to Joseph and his family first thing in the morning tomorrow and hurry up with the second phase of your marriage - the home taking ceremony." He stood up to leave.
"No..." Mary said.
"What do you mean no…“ Joachim said, turning to her with a stern look, finger pointed at her face, “In your situation, we can't afford any further delay. You two have to immediately live together.”
"Joseph didn't touch me." Mary cried again. “I didn‘t sleep with him!”
"Mary," Anne said, "do you know what you‘re talking about? Tell me you don't mean it!"
"No!” Joachim shouted and his face turned red again. He faced the unthinkable. Restraining himself and unwilling to pounce on Mary, he pounded the bed instead, howling expletives he was not accustomed to. "Who did it, Mary, who did it? Who did you sleep with? Who fathered this child in your womb?"
"It's there by the power of God and the Holy Spirit." At last, she could say it.
“Who could believe you?” Joachim asked.
"No. It can‘t be!” Anne exclaimed.
"By the mercy, grace and power of God, your mother's womb was made fertile and you were born," Joachim said, "but your mother and I did out part in the task of procreation, which in itself, is the power of God manifested in man. And I, as everyone does, know of no other way in which to procreate and manifest God‘s power of procreation."
"Mary, please, do tell us the truth. We are your parents. No one else loves and cares for you more than we do." Anne could not control her emotions anymore and broke into more cries. “Tell us, Mary, be truthful…who is the man responsible for this?”
"God is a spirit and doesn't go around cohabiting with and impregnating women!" Joachim shouted, holding his temple, feeling pain. " Any claim such as this is a myth - just like what the Greeks and Romans perpetuate. He gave that responsibility to man, to Adam and Eve - requiring them to be of one flesh.“
“The Holy Spirit came upon me…” she said, “…and the power of the Most High overpowered me… It is by the power of God and the Holy Spirit..." Mary spoke the same words repeatedly, softly like a prayer.
“Wait…“ Mary’s father thought carefully, “Who was the only man with you in these last three months you were away from us?" Joachim asked, thinking aloud. He was stunned at his own realization. “Oh, my good Lord, my God, Oh, no, not him… tell me I‘m wrong!”
“Is it him, Mary? Tell us, is it him?” asked Anne.
Definitely, they knew who was the only man with Mary.
The couple had the same conclusion.
They knew the social consequences of adultery - the Jewish people’s righteousness and strict compliance with the Mosaic laws to the letter, will force them to cast the stone, demanding death.
They wailed.
About Er Nuylan
Er Nuylan is a teacher with varied interests. His love for and fascination with Christianity produced The First Christmas: What Could Have Actually Happened, a Nativity Story viewing the virgin birth mystery from faith and reality. How could Jesus be born without a human father... or was there? He resides in Japan with wife Yuko, daughter Pearl and son Ken.
"Mary!" his father Joachim, comes charging in, grabbing her. ""How did this happen?"" "I'm pregnant by the power of God and the Holy Spirit." "God is a spirit and doesn't go around cohabiting with and impregnating women!"" Joachim shouts.""Any claim as such is a myth! Wait..."" he says, "Who was the only man with you in these last three months you were away from us?" He knows. And wails - "the people's compliance with Mosaic Laws, forces them to cast the stone, demanding death.""
Er Nuylan is a teacher with varied interests. His love for and fascination with Christianity produced The First Christmas: What Could Have Actually Happened, a Nativity Story viewing the virgin birth mystery from faith and reality. How could Jesus be born without a human father... or was there? He resides in Japan with wife Yuko, daughter Pearl and son Ken.