defeated stepfathers of the immaculately-conceived

(I think Christmas may be the holiday most thickly layered in lies) Having just subconsciously ingested its undeniable soundtrack and smoothed out story (refined and refined and..) in the department stores and starbucks and televisions of America for the last 2 months... I have finally taken an actual interest: Joseph. How slighted must the stepfather of Christ felt when he found that another impregnated his Mary? (be it God or a handsome drifter, that was his girl!). How could a man not forever settle his defeated eyes at his saintly wife's skirt hem, never again to peer into hers with confidence, to tend to her holy morning sickness with a hard-on...

Maybe I'll look into that in a hotel-drawer Bible someday.

Hope everyone is managing to find some unfeigned happiness amidst the chaos that lingers around this corner of the year.