Mary!

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name,

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever even as he said to our fathers."

I'm out there on a limb with my heart, today...


The Christmas Story is a story full of weakness, of complications and, quite a bit, of absolutely frightening situations. Mary and Joseph faced it with a lot of 'can do', 'make do' coping - all while knowing that they had the very Son of God - in a very tender and helpless state - in their care.

No pressure!

Not worrying about Joseph, at the moment, but thinking about Mary...

I think it is so easy, when looking at those beautiful Renaissance Madonnas and hearing about how 'Mary meekly bowed her head' and acquiesced, to receive the message that Mary was really in a perfectly peaceful, 'float through it all', 'it's no hardship at all to do good' state. I mean, whether we really think that or not - the idea is out there.

I just know that, for me, there's this little bit of fluff in the back of my mind that has been told that she was one of those 'have it all together', perfect girls. I could almost believe (from those paintings) that she was perfectly pretty and always spoke exactly the right thing in a 'saintly' voice. Not that I really think this or that it's ever led me to resent her in any way.... of course not! It's just... who is like that in reality? I know that I will never ever be that good or perfect. That's just a fairytale!

But I've been thinking recently, "Mary was real!" (I mean, I knew that already! ;) ) ...but, lately, I've been thinking about it in a fresh way.

Was she the most lady-like woman ever? I mean, did she drink her tea with her pinky up? She was a peasant!! And almost a child, herself! We see her so often depicted in royal, satin robes with the prettiest and most serene face ever and I think that is an accurate depiction of her spiritual situation and her inner heart. However, what if her face was plain? What if she had a funny, odd - even loud - laugh?

One thing I know for sure - her life was NOT perfectly easy!
 

And, whatever her personality type - whatever Mary was like on the outside, what we know for sure is that her quietness was a state of HEART. Her spirit was quiet because she was humble - yielded. She was chilled out because she loved God and completely trusted Him! 

and...

I have been SO tongue-tied trying to get to the heart of what I really want to say here but, in a nutshell, it's this:

Quietness is a state of letting God be God and letting us be us trusting in God. It's not about us being all strong and perfect. It's about GOD being all strong and perfect.

So!

Perspective and trust in God - that's where Mary's quiet 'okay, God!" came from. But it doesn't mean it was all easy.

Then, this dear heart burst into adoration and love for her God. She said "My soul, my very heart, my deepest depths -  magnify and praise you to the skies! I adore you with all my heart - my Lord, Father, God, Savior! and my face beams with happiness - my heart bursts with utter joy - my spirit rejoices in you, my God, whose works and ways are like no one else because you are GOD, my Savior!

I was thinking that my word for the day was 'humble' but, really, I think that it is weakness! Because it's when we're blown apart and trusting God with the 1% of strength we have left in us that we are the most humble, the strongest and the most tenderly beautiful. Weakness is beautiful!

Just look at this precious Christmas story! It's in every line!

xo