Love Letters

Summary: These letters are being written by Mary and Joseph. The words in parentheses are them talking to themselves as they write.
Style: Drama.  Duration: 8min
Actors: 1M, 1F

Script

Dear Mama,

I just didn't know how to say this to you in person so I thought I'd write to you. Joseph and I still want to be man and wife, but there's been a small complication (very small). You see our plans have changed a bit, and we may have to move the actual wedding date up a little.

This may be a bit hard for you to understand, but here goes. I was praying one day when an angel appeared to me. No, really it WAS an angel. He even told me his name: Gabriel.

Now you know how our entire nation has been looking for a saviour for a very long time. Well, the angel, Gabriel that is, told me that God was sending a saviour for us. I know you'll be very excited to hear that. I was too. I mean it's been such a long time of looking for this very event. The only thing is that this saving thing might not happen overnight. As a matter of fact, I can tell you for certain, that it will not be overnight because the saviour is coming to earth as a baby. That’s right, a baby! Kind of funny, isn’t it, that God would send a baby to be the saviour of His people? Ha, ha.

Anyway, now we come to the part that really affects me and Joseph and you and papa and the whole family, I guess. You see I'm the one who's supposed to give birth to this baby. (Scratch that out!) You see I'm the one who's supposed to give birth to this saviour (Yeah, that sounds better.) Now I want you to understand that Joseph is not the father. (Wow, that doesn't sound good!) What I mean is that God is the baby's father, not Joseph, not any man. I'm pregnant but I'm still a virgin. The thing is that God has answered my prayers and chosen me to be the handmaid of the Lord. It's really an awesome thing, and I hope you will be happy for me and for Joseph. (Oh my goodness, my mother is going to kill me!)

You might be wondering right now if I've lost my mind. That's all right, Joseph didn't believe me at first either, but now he does. You see an angel appeared to him, too, and told him that God is the baby's father and that he should not be afraid to take me as his wife.

I know this may be very hard for you and Papa to accept and understand. I realize that other people will not understand. There's no way I can expect the world in general to believe what I'm telling you here. As hard as it will be for all of us, I am thrilled and thankful to be used by God in this way. My prayer now is that you can trust me enough  to believe that what I'm telling you is the absolute truth. 

Your loving daughter, Mary

…………………………………………

Dear Dad:

I'm writing this letter to you alone because I'm not sure how Mom will take what I'm about to tell you. She'll have to be told soon, I know, but I thought it would be best if you heard it first. You see, this letter is about Mary and me. There's been a small complication to our plans.

Do you remember a week ago or so you asked me what was wrong? I kind of brushed you off, I told you I didn't want to talk about it. You were real good to me; you just told me you were there if I needed to talk. I'm sure you knew then that it was about Mary, but you didn't push me.

There's no easy way to tell you this, Dad, so I'm just going to come right out with it. You see, Mary is going to have a baby. Now, don't get me wrong. It's not my baby! (Whew, that's not how I want to put this!  Scratch that out.) What I mean is that Mary is still a. virgin but she's, also, going to have a baby. (Oh, boy. This is harder than I thought it was going to be.) I can hear you right now talking to yourself saying, “Yeah, right.'' But, Dad, it's really true!

Here's what happened. About 10 days ago an angel appeared to Mary while she was praying and told her that she was going to be a mother, but not just any mother. She was going to be the mother of the saviour that God was sending to this earth for our people. Think about it, Dad. Mary is the instrument God is using to bring his salvation to the earth. Can you believe it? (Right now my dad is saying to himself, how could a grown man fall for a. story like that.)

The thing is when Mary first told me, I didn't believe her. I actually thought there was someone else in her life that I knew nothing about. As I was planning what to do about the situation an angel appeared to me, too. He told me that the baby Mary was carrying is from God and that I should not be afraid to take her as my wife. Now I know what you're thinking. But honestly, Dad, don't you think we could have come up with a better story than that if we had wanted to lie to you and Mom?

Anyway, I know this is not happening as we all planned it, but Mary and I need to get  married right away. Of course, we can't tell our friends and family all of this or we'd be  the laughing stock of the village. The thing is we wanted you and Mom to know the truth.  You've always been there for me, Dad. Like the time when I was little and we found the  honey in the bee's nest. Remember, Dad? You showed me it and told me to stay away,  or I'd get stung. I'm not sure why, but as soon as you told me to stay away I got this  insatiable desire to go and get some of that honey. Boy, those bees sure got mad. I was  flying through those trees coming straight at you with that huge swarm following close  behind. You ran to me, picked me up and jumped into the pond, clothes and all. Was I  ever glad you were there!  

I guess I feel the same way now, Dad. This will not be easy to face and people won't  understand. A lot of them will gossip about Mary and me. Some of them will laugh at  us. Some of them will condemn us. Some of them will be kind and understanding. A few may even believe our story, if we feel free enough to tell them. How about you, Dad? What will you do?