Mary                                                                        12/6/09

         She was just a child, barely a teen, when the angel came -- a young, frightened child of thirteen or fourteen, deserted by everyone she loved because God had decided to “bless” her:

         A young girl whose parents decided to send her away for a while, to her cousin Elizabeth’s, until the gossip died down;

         A young girl who had to face Joseph’s anger and feelings of betrayal as she told him she was pregnant;

         A young girl who had to tell over and over again this mysterious story of an angel who had come to her in the middle of the night and changed her life forever;

         A young girl who did not know if this was the worst, or the best, thing that had ever happened to her. 

         A girl who wondered at times if she was strong enough, courageous enough, to carry this burden God had placed upon her, who wondered why He had chosen her, a girl with questions and doubts, but one who could still say, “I have always been faithful to God and have done all that He has told me.”

         This was a child who knew the pain of the ones she loved the most turning away from her when she needed their faith and their love to see her through.  A child who knew the difficulty – as well as the joy – of being “blessed” by God – a child of incredible strength and power, transformed into a woman, a handmaiden of God.

         Somehow, I think we lose a great deal when we romanticize this story and only see Mary as a plaster saint dressed in blue, all meek and mild, sitting quietly by a manger with hands folded in an attitude of prayer and a halo above her head.

         I think we lose the power of this woman’s story when we make it clean and neat and oh so beautiful.  We do her a disservice when we strip this story of the reality of giving birth alone, lying in the hay, in a cave filled with animals, with no doctors, no nurses, no other women to hold her hand and tell her what to do next – what to expect when the next pains hits.  There were just the two of them --- Mary and Joseph – holding on to each other and the mystery of God – as a baby is born just as the angel said – a baby who would change their world and save ours.

         This is no fairy tale, no once in a lifetime adventure.  It is a real story that happened to real people, to a young girl named Mary, living in the village of Nazareth, a girl who loved her Lord and learned that serving God can sometimes cost a great deal.

         A girl who knew that faith and service does not come without questions and doubts

         A girl who knew how to continue on when nothing makes sense and the only truth you have is unbelievable

         A girl who found peace and abiding joy even in the middle of loneliness and pain

         A girl who was blessed by God.

         It is my prayer that as we hear her story and are reminded of her faith and strength that we might find the courage and the love to prepare ourselves as she did for angel voices telling of the birth of a king within our lives this Christmas.