Review: TROUBLES
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2013
When one devout man pens a book stating the Virgin Mary eschwed the public, and another devout man writes a book stating she was involved in every facet of her Son's ministry and even carried it on after His death, just whom do you believe?Could it be a frustrated author created the references he couldn't find? Or did he have too much sacramental wine?Shame on ME for inventing a reason just like I've accused one of them of inventing, uh, whatever.Mary has been gone from this Earth for nearly 2000 years, but she faced a unique situation. She was pious, raised in the temple and instructed by the father of John the Baptist. Her purity caught the eye of our Creator. Of all the women in the world, only she was worthy of bearing God's son.But what pressure!! She could have been stoned for being loose with her morals. Her intended, Joseph, was afraid of her pregnancy-at first.Then there's the controversy that has separated Catholics and Protestants for two millennia. Did Mary remain a virgin after the birth of Christ? There was no reason to do so; she was legally married.I've inherited a picture of the Holy Family. It's about 75 years old. Joseph has a receding hairline and gray sprinkled throughout his black hair. All three people have halos. But it is just a picture.The last time Joseph is mentioned is when the family makes the trip to Jeresalem when Christ is 12. But there is a gap of about 20 years there.Hmmm. Anytime you try to write a biography of anyone who lived so long ago there are problems. The worst problem is that you can't interview sources who knew your subject. The next problem is that you will find histories written by people who didn't know their subject and those histories disagree, but you can't interview the authors who wrote those histories either.You're just going to have to read this book and decide for yourself.Fully half of this book is devoted to prayers to Mary. Repeating a written prayer is something this Baptist doesn't understand. I was taught to pray like I'm having a conversation with my Holy Father. I should remember to thank God for the good times and ask for His strength and help for the bad times.Since my life is made of constantly changing good experiences and bad experiences, my prayers are always changing a little every time I pray.And I'm sure Catholics pray that way, too. Betcha these special prayers are used in a novena. But I can drop to my knees for the Lord anytime, anywhere.That's just the kind of relationship I have with my Maker.