It is the holiday season. Christmas for most of the country. A time when we repeat familiar words about peace, kindness and goodwill. Words we hear so often that we rarely stop to consider what they actually demand of us.

The traditional Christmas story is not sentimental. The overarching story is not soft, and aspects of it are certainly not comfortable.

A large portion of the story is about poor, vulnerable people facing power and real danger. About government violence and infanticide. About exile forced under pain of death. And about the quiet courage of a man who accepts responsibility when the world becomes dangerous.

Joseph does not seek attention for his actions. He doesn’t argue with God. He makes no bargains later to be ignored. Warned of the irrational actions of a ruler terrified of losing power, he takes Mary and the infant Jesus and flees to Egypt. A foreign land with a completely different culture. A place where they are strangers and depend entirely on the goodwill of others.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus are refugees from a government order to murder all male children under the age of 2.

Joseph does not wait for conditions to improve. He does not demand certainty. He acts decisively, protectively, imperfectly.

Joseph is a man of courage. A godly man. Both brave and humble.

Herod, on the other hand, is a familiar figure. A ruler so afraid of losing........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal