'Jose' y Maria' Bring the Holy

As I write, it's Dec. 23, and there's not one light, not one garland, not a red or green ribbon, not a speck of tinsel or glitter anywhere around our house. Instead, I'm keeping my focus on the illustration above, called "Jose' y Maria" by its artist, Everett Patterson of Portland, Ore. Here's why:

I took my husband to the emergency room on Dec. 17 after severe groin pain jolted him from sleep. After hours of waiting,the doctor diagnosed a bilateral inguinal hernia. My husband needs surgery, but because his condition isn't considered an emergency, the ER doctor told him to schedule "elective" surgery.

That's when the ordeal intensified.

Four days after the emergency room visit, we saw the surgeon recommended by the ER. We expected my incapacitated husband could have surgery in a day or so. How naive! None of the surgeon's affiliated hospitals had any surgical appointments available until the first week of January at the earliest. Moving the surgery into January meant that instead of finishing out this year under the deductible already fulfilled, we would be into a new insurance year, with a new deductible of thousands, plus out-of-pocket expenses, to be met.

Another financial thorn in this thicket: my husband's employer doesn't provide paid sick leave. Like so many other American families today, we live paycheck to paycheck. If John doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. No money goes into the health savings account that pays for medication and doctor visits. No money goes into our meager savings. The household bills get only a portion of what's due, if that -- while the medical expenses continue to mount.

So here we are, with my beloved husband suffering constant physical pain from a condition that can be remedied with a day surgery procedure. At the same time he worries about our financial condition, and I fear for his physical, emotional and spiritual health while I carry on my own work and all the household duties. We teeter on the brink of disaster.

Fortunately, when we asked God to help us, God responded with a resounding "Yes!" A church friend who works at another hospital got us a consultation with a new surgeon. A cancellation on the day surgery schedule provided a date for the operation: Dec. 31, just under the wire for insurance coverage. Another friend from long ago and far away suggested an online fundraising site to help us replace my husband's lost income and cover medical expenses. Our friends, family and even strangers have given us their hard-earned money. While not relieved, the medical and financial crisis has become more manageable.

In the midst of all this, my tired mind darts around the images of 2015:

  • Dozens of refugees camped out in a Hungarian train station awaiting passage into Germany, which has offered to welcome them;
  • The dead body of a Syrian toddler washed up on a beach;
  • Nine people killed while at Bible study at a prominent historically black church in Charleston, SC;
  • A police officer killed defending others from a deranged shooter at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.

More and more, the pictures come of wounded and slain people, homeless veterans, uprooted families, war-torn countries. The temptation to despair presses down; the urge to surrender to fear threatens to engulf us.

This is why Patterson's "Jose' y Maria" provides a better Christmas decoration this year than any cheery Santa. In a contemporary setting, the artist has captured Christmas as it is today for so many people, who better resemble the real Joseph and Mary when Jesus was born. This is true Incarnation: preparing for a baby to be born into the blood, sweat and tears of humanity with all its faults and failings, yet with the courage to persevere despite obstacles, with a hope for a better future, conceived out of a love so deep and divine it defies human description.

"Jose' y Maria" brings the holy at its most profound and mysterious into the Astle household this Christmas. May it do the same for you.

Everett Patterson is a comic book artist and illustrator living in Portland, Oregon. His drawing Jose' y Maria was his 2014 Christmas card and is reprinted here with the artist's permission. By the way, there are at least 15 biblical references contained in the illustration. See how many you can find.