LUKE 1. 26-56
MARY
"The Annunciation" by Henry Ossawa TannerAs a United Methodist, Mary was never very prominent on my protestant radar, she always seemed to my immature in faith self to be much more a Catholic focal point.
Yet, one grows in the faith and matures in thought and reflection and I began to reflect more on Mary. I put away my "childish" notions of Mary being meek and mild, eternally virginal (therefore wed to the most patient man on the planet) and ideal ---- perhaps these perspectives explain why it was always the "perceived ideal beauty" of the blond hair and blue-eyed girl who always was selected to portray Mary in the annual Christmas pageant.
Mary plays her most center-stage role during the Advent season. Without her, there is no Christmas drama. She teaches us all how to be what German mystic, Meister Eckhart, called us to as bearers of Christ for a waiting world.
Any discussion of Mary begins with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and set's up, announces the plan. The painting at the top of this post can be viewed in clearer, fuller details by going to: https://artondemand.philamuseum.org/detail/461460/tanner-the-annunciation-1898
When you zoom in on the painting look at Mary's face and her posture. To me she is conversing with Gabriel and also according to scripture she dialogues with the angel, asks questions, seeks answers. Hers is not an immediate, submissive "yes."
This painting was central to an pre-Advent retreat in which I participated. As we discussed our reactions to the painting, one participant said, "To me, Mary has pondered what the angel has said, deliberated and finally her face to me says, 'Ahhhh screw it, let's do this.'"
I resonated with that viewpoint. I prefer the Mary featured in the poem by Denise Levertov also called "Annunciation" where the poet pens these words regarding Mary:
This was the moment no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.
A breath unbreathed,
Spirit,
suspended,
waiting.
She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’
Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
consent illumined her.
Mary had a choice. She could have said no.
And if she had, then what?
Spoiler alert --- we know the story, she considers and she agrees.
The story moves forward in Luke's gospel and continues what's been prominent in the opening chapters of the book as a kind of broadway musical format --- seemingly everyone sings. Mary's number is The Magnificat. This hymn is a remix from Hannah in the Old Testament and there is no way around it the song is a revolutionary tune sung by a rebel and meant to stir and upend the way of things in such a way the impoverished become rich, the empty become full and the overlooked become seen and heard.
Personally, this is a song I can dance to, preach to, seek through the grace of God to make real.
When I reflect on Mary the adjectives I use to describe her are curious, independent, courageous, questioning, faithful, believed in angels and was open to speak and listen to them, a strong woman.
Do these adjectives apply to us, todays bearers of the Christ?
As Mary had a choice, so do we. The Christmas season is familiar with its fluffy sheep and scraggly shepherds, its cooing doves and lowing cattle. The story of a young couple finding shelter in a manger where a baby is born we know and it is comforting.
I believe the story as it comforts also is meant to call us and challenge us to make the song of Mary evidenced in our communities. Hers is a song of justice. Do we hear it? Do we listen? Do we live it?
The entire Christmas story starts with a dialogue between an angel and a young woman in whom God has found favor. Then as now God delights in each of us, that does not change.
Have the angels stopped being sent?
Have the angels become silent?
The angels are among us often in guises we don't easily recognize.
That nudge, that refrain, that note you just can't stop singing.....pay attention and choose wisely.
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