Inner change and outer action

JÜRGEN KURT STARK

When Mary and Joseph returned from Jerusalem after the feast of the Passover, twelve-year-old Jesus stayed in the city without their knowledge.^{See Luke 2:41–49;} The Bible tells us: "But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance."

Where did they look for him? In the company. And what a colorful, noisy caravan this must have been! In addition to animals, the milling crowd probably included entertainers, vendors of goods, as well as the various pilgrims in their distinctive dress. And there Mary and Joseph were looking for Jesus, the human representative of Christ. Did they find him there?

Often we act like Mary and Joseph and search for the Christ—our true identity—in the company of material pursuits, ambitions, hopes, and joys. We may even have felt that going along with the crowd—exciting the physical senses, for example, until their noise had drowned or deadened our desire for good—would enhance our masculinity or femininity and so increase other people's admiration of our personality. We may have been tempted to think that we would find true happiness and satisfaction in the pursuit of sensation and substance in matter. But did we?

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