The Mother of New Being
Advent 4: Psalm 89:1–4, Luke 1:26–28
Jesus had a mother. Her name was Mary. She was young by most reports, but hardly insignificant. She was a good listener, spiritually aware, and boldly inquisitive.
Mary had an encounter with God that gave her the imagination to see her child as one who could change the world.
Can you imagine — holding such things in your her heart? It would have been easier to dismiss them, but Mary pondered.
She kept this imagination before her as her child grew in stature and wisdom. Even as it must have been difficult to see him off in the world on his own, she never lost sight of him, never lost touch. Love can be like that.
When God is a Part of Experience
As I reflect on Mary’s experience as a person of faith in an age of polarization, poverty, and exclusionary practices, it occurs to me that she is in tune to something within and beyond those realities. Her context is a part of the experience to be sure, but God is the substance. Where do we find it?
Commenting on the ways in which we become more in tune to such a God, Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
“People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness.
God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies, burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay.
Whoever wrote this stuff believed that people could learn as much about the ways of God from paying attention to the world as they could from paying attention to scripture.”
-Barbara Brown Taylor, An Alter in the World.
Paying Attention
Taylor’s words are worth pondering. Advent is a season for paying attention. By doing so boldly and faithfully, Mary takes us off the page of our circumstance and into new forms of being. Earthly Peace! Joyful Lives! Neighbor Care! All of the old bets are off except one — Love wins!
It is this truth that grows inside of Mary— and in all of us if we let it.
Reflection:
- Where does God speak and act today?
- Where do you see God the most?
- What will we you do different today in response to God’s love?
- Where is there a neighbor in need?
- Thank you for reading and following during this Advent season.
