February 10–16 ❘ Brother of the Prophet

Brother of the Prophet

My youngest says he doesn’t know
if he could believe a brother
who claimed to have seen visions—
and knowing my children, I understand,

not because they aren’t good
and honest boys, but because a mother
has a hard time hearkening to someone
whose knees she’s patched

and sheets she’s laundered. A prophet
has no honor in his own living room.
Think of Jesus’s family, standing outside
the crowd, convinced he’d lost his mind,

wondering what to do with him.
So different from Hyrum—ready
to harvest immediately with bare hands
if only Joseph would direct where to reap.

When I read the verse where the same
who was rejected by His own
introduces Himself to Hyrum,
I sense a sidelong glance at Joseph

as the Lord wills him to treasure this rare gift
from one who knows by experience
what a suffering servant
really needs.

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