Once there was a young unmarried teenage girl named Mary living in the town of Nazareth. She had the strangest dream. In the dream an angel was standing at her bedside. At first she was terribly afraid. But the angel named Gabriel said, ““Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.” Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you; the child you deliver will be called Holy, Son of God.”

Mary was full of emotion when she woke up the next day. Excited and terrified. She recalled from the night before a wonderful, warm Presence hovering over her after the angel left, but didn’t think any more of it. After three months went by, she realized she was pregnant. But Mary knew she had never slept with anyone. She remembered Gabriel’s words, but how could she explain this to Joseph and to her parents?

When she first tried to describe her experience to Joseph, he was shocked. With a distressed look on his face, he said, “I love you Mary, but I honestly don’t know what to think about all this. I need some time to consider all that you’ve told me.” Mary was in tears. How could she go through this pregnancy alone, without the support of either Joseph or her parents? The rest of the day she spent worrying and trying to figure a way out of her predicament.

That night she sank into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning in her bed. All of a sudden she felt an angel of light hovering over her. A smooth, silky voice whispered in her ear. The voice reminded her of Gabriel, but there was a slight dissonance that Mary couldn’t put her finger on.

“Mary,” the voice said, “There is another choice you can make. I will show you a solution to your problem.” The angel’s voice produced a hypnotic heaviness over Mary, and as she slowly closed her eyes she found herself flying upwards into the air beyond the clouds. She gasped as she looked around her, because she was now in the middle of more stars than she could have ever imagined.

Next she saw a spinning globe, but had absolutely no idea what it was. Mary wasn’t sure of what was happening, but the sphere was getting closer and closer. She began seeing pictures with words that she shouldn’t have been able to understand, but she did. ‘AMERICA’, what was that?

The voice whispering in her ear, “America is a great country that exists in the future. It is a place of freedom and self-determination. You can choose how your life will unfold. I am about to open a door for you to walk through.” Then she saw the words, ‘Knoxville, Tennessee’

The voice continued, “Knoxville is a place of opportunity. You will encounter signs directing your path. Follow those directoins and a solution will present itself. It will help solve your problem with Joseph and your parents. Everything will go back to just the way it was.”

Suddenly she was there! Mary was standing in a strange new place! She was no longer in Nazareth. Everything was so different. Mary turned around; she saw a beautiful house with plants arranged on a front porch with a sign placed in front part of the yard. 

A kind looking woman came out of the house with the sign and asked, “Mary, are you all right? You look confused. Do you know where you are?” Everything in Mary’s mind was fuzzy. Where was she? She looked down at her stomach and remembered she was pregnant.

“Are you pregnant?” asked the kind woman. “Yes, but I don’t remember how it happened,” replied Mary. “Do you know who the father is? Are you going through this all alone?” Putting her arm around Mary with a look of genuine concern the woman spoke. “Why don’t you come inside and sit down. I think it’s more than coincidence that you’ve found yourself right on our doorstep.” Glancing towards her front lawn, she said, “You might even say that it’s a sign that you’re here!”

Mary recalled the voice that had just recently spoken to her: ‘Mary, I’m about to show you a sign that will solve your problem.’ Something didn’t feel completely right, but Mary couldn’t identify it. She asked, “What does ‘Abortion Access for All’ mean?”

The woman was pleased to address her question. “Mary, I’m here to help you. The prospect of becoming a single mother is daunting to say the least. I’d like to take you to meet some friends of mine that operate a medical clinic. They are very knowledgeable about your situation and will be able to offer you another option.”

They quickly arrived at the clinic. A very kind nurse, accompanied by the woman that Mary first met, ushered Mary into the room where the doctor would examine her. After performing an exam he spoke, “You are about three months pregnant. I’d like to discuss your options. The woman who Mary first met gently squeezed her hand and said, “This is what the sign in our front yard refers to: Abortion Access for All.

As the details of an abortion procedure were explained to Mary she was confused. Could something like this actually make her pregnancy go away? She wondered if this was safe, and if anything could go wrong. The smooth-talking angelic voice continued whispering in Mary’s ear, “These kind-hearted people are here to help you. Just trust me and know I have your best interests at heart. Just relax and listen to the music. This will all be over soon.”

The next thing Mary knew was that she was waking up from a drugged sleep. She felt a cramping inside her stomach and began to throw up. As she looked down on the ground Mary saw drops of blood. What had happened? Mary began to get frantic. Was she dying? What had gone wrong? The clinic staff reassured her, “There is nothing to be afraid of. After the procedure there is always a small amount of bloody discharge. Mary’s new friend drove her back to the house and as Mary got out of the car she looked at the sign again.   

She heard two different voices. The first came from a memory she had completely forgotten about. It was the voice of Gabriel. “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.”

Next she heard a malevolent voice. “Mary, you have done well. You’ve followed the sign I placed before you. You have chosen wisely. The cackling continued as the voice said, “Turn around and see what you’ve done!” “Mary,” the voice triumphantly proclaimed, “You have made it possible….. We have now officially cancelled Christmas!”

Mary stood motionless staring at the sight before her. The snow globe was empty just like she was. The life that once was living inside her was gone. Their family was gone; Joseph and the miracle child were absent. The future of that possibility had been erased forever!

Suddenly she heard a banging sound that kept getting louder. Mary opened her eyes and she realized she was back in her bed in Nazareth. “Mary, get up and open the door!” a voice shouted. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on her surroundings. Could it be Joseph? Then the lingering reality of what she had done engulfed her. Those drops of blood which fell to the ground covered her with shame and guilt. The snow globe was empty!

The persistent banging on the door continued. “Mary, get up and open the door. Are you all right?” ‘Was that really Joseph?’ she asked herself. How could she know which experience was a dream and which event was the true reality? “Mary,” Joseph anxiously said, “I was so worried about you. I’m so sorry for walking away the other day. I just wasn’t sure what to do. What you told me about the angel Gabriel was so overwhelming.”

Then Joseph took Mary in his arms and spoke tenderly to her. “Mary, I had a dream last night. An angel of the Lord appeared to me and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Months later Mary, Joseph, and their unborn child travelled to Bethlehem. It was not an easy passage. Becuse of a required census they had to travel a distance of over seventy miles. Mary was exhausted when they finally reached the city and her labor pains had begun. She wrapped Jesus snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

That night, utterly exhausted from her arduous journey to Bethlehem and the process of giving birth, Mary dreamily recounted all of the events that had taken place since Gabriel had first greeted her that day in Nazareth. Despite all the terrible hardships, things had turned out well.

Totally drained, Mary fell into a deep sleep. Then she heard a familiar whisper; “Did you forget about me, Mary? Don’t think I’m going to stop now!” The vision of the blood on the ground and the empty snow globe returned to Mary’s consciousness in vivid detail. She could recall the smells, feelings and the emptiness she had felt after leaving the clinic. “Sooner or later, I will succeed in killing your child!” the evil voice hissed!

Thirty-three years later Mary stood at the foot of a Roman cross. A soldier came and pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. Blood and water came dripping down the wood and formed a crimson puddle at the foot of the cross.

Mary remembered her horrifying experience regarding Abortion Access for All. That was only one of many attempts to extinguish the life of Messiah. Just two years after Jesus was born, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to immediately leave Nazareth and flee to Egypt. The same wicked angel of light, which had whispered to Mary, stirred Herod to track down and attempt to murder their young child. During Jesus’ earthly ministry numerous attempts were made on his life, but as He used to tell his disciples, “I surrender my own life, and no one has the power to take my life from me. I have the authority to lay it down and the power to take it back again.”   

Many years later when Jesus’ dead body was taken down from the cross, Mary felt a deep dark emptiness inside her. She once again remembered the empty snow globe. Waves of emptiness and despondency swept over her as she heard that wretched voice laugh, “Didn’t I tell you? Sooner or later, I will succeed in killing your child.”

On Easter morning, Mary woke up from her nightmare. It wasn’t Joseph knocking at the door, but Jesus was standing in front of the empty tomb!

          

The Gift of Christmas couldn’t be cancelled! In fact, this free gift extends to the future, and is always out of reach of our enemy – disguised as an angel of light.