Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Advent
Often by the last month of pregnancy, waiting is the watchword. Waiting for that time when a baby is ready to make its way into the light may be met with a bit of impatience. I know when my first grandson was expected, he made us wait an extra 10 days before he made his appearance. My own first baby was born two weeks after I thought she would grace us with her presence. By that time, I had grown tired of the big belly size and was more than ready to deliver a bundle of joy.
With that in mind, each Advent my attention goes to Jesus’ mother, Mary. If my husband had told my very pregnant self that we were traveling by foot and by donkey to another town I would have laughed and blown him off. Not Mary. As the story goes, she made the voyage quietly and humbly. I know we can’t be sure, but I think Mary was a teenager at the time.
She left home and family to travel to a strange place. There were no hotel reservations back then, so she didn’t know where they would be staying. All she knew for sure was that at some point in the near future she would be delivering a precious boy. And not just any boy. Angel Gabriel had visited her with the news of what seemed impossible – that she would give birth to the son of God. “You have found favor with God”, said Gabriel. He told her the Holy Spirit would visit her and, though still a virgin, she would become pregnant. He told her, “Nothing is impossible for God.”
Somehow, the story goes, she managed to speak out in Gabriel’s presence. She did not argue, she politely more or less said, “Bring it on. I’m in.” In my book that makes Mary one brave and strong girl.
I wonder if it puzzled her why she would be chosen for such an auspicious happening. She wasn’t rich, or powerful, or influential among her people. She didn’t live in a place fit for a king. She was simply a young girl whose marriage had been arranged for her by her parents. She and Joseph weren’t the prom king and queen, in fact, it may be that she hardly knew the man. Nevertheless she accepted what had been laid upon her.
I don’t know how Mary’s personal Advent went. She and Joseph had weathered the community looking at the virginal girl grow more and more pregnant. That can’t have been a piece of cake. Then the Roman emperor decreed that a census be taken and Joseph and Mary headed towards Bethlehem as Mary entered her last few days of pregnancy.
Was she frightened, facing so many unknowns? Or was her faith in God so strong that she patiently waited to give birth to God’s son? What was going through Joseph’s mind as they carefully journeyed to Bethlehem? Did they have a “go bag” packed for when labor started? When it became apparent that there were no rooms available what did they think about being put up in a cow’s stall? Who was Mary’s “midwife” as she experienced her first birth and Jesus came into the light? Who helped her clean the baby after what was surely a messy birth, as most births are?
So many questions around this miracle. Around the world people are going through their Advent rituals in many different ways. Candles are lit. Biblical versions of the holy birth are read and a Christmas story unfolds. The story leaves out a lot of details, a lot of real-life fine points are left to our imagination. As for myself, every Advent I admire Mary more and more. She was a quiet force to be reckoned with!