A Missing Child

To lose a child, even for a minute or two, is one of the most worrying things which can happen to a parent. I have for you here the true story of a couple whose child went missing for three awful days - awful for the parents, that is, because the child himself seems scarcely to be bothered.
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Every year it was the custom of Joseph and Mary to travel down to Jerusalem in order to keep the Feast of the Passover. Then, when their son reached the age of twelve years, he was permitted to go with them.
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At the end of a week full of celebration, Joseph and Mary joined the other pilgrims who were making their way back to Galilee. Unknown to them, however, their son stayed behind in the city.
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Believing that he was safely in the company of other members of their group, Joseph and Mary travelled northwards quite happily. Then, when evening came, they began to look for him among their friends and relations. Finally, having failed to find him, they abandoned the group and returned to Jerusalem to search for him.
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It was three frantic days later that they discovered the child, sitting with some teachers in the temple courts, listening to what they said and asking them questions. The people in the surrounding crowd were amazed by the level of understanding that he showed and the answers which he gave to questions put to him by the teachers. His parents were also astonished, seeing a side of their son’s nature they had never noticed before.
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At the first opportunity, they led him away from the temple and, once alone, began to ask him questions of their own.
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"My son," said Mary, "why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been looking all over Jerusalem for you."
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"Why?" he asked. "Didn't you realise that you’d find me in my Father's house?"
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But this answer of his made no sense to them. Shrugging their shoulders, Joseph and Mary began the long journey to Nazareth one again, this time making sure that they kept a tight hold of their child. At home, he remained quietly obedient to them. His mother, however, unable to forget these strange events, turned them over and over in her mind.
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