Luke 1 v 26 – 38 An Angel appears to Mary
Not an everyday occurrence for a young girl going about her daily business. Quite a shock in fact. But her response to the visit and announcement of an angel probes my reactions to circumstances I may not be expecting.
Mary begins her response to the angel by pointing out, not unsurprisingly, the practical obstacles. How on earth is she going to have a baby? This response is often echoed in the challenges which hurl themselves at me – How on earth? Really? Surely not?
I wonder how long the encounter between Mary and the angel took? The narrative would suggest that it was simply the length of a conversation, but my imagination plays with what might have happened between the familiar words. Was there more discussion? Expression of incredulity? The silence of absorption? A look of compassion and understanding? We may never know the practical details, but by the end of the encounter, Mary was ready to quietly accept, to trust, despite the impossibility of the words she was hearing. She was at peace.
So how did she get there and how might we?
She was comforted by gentle facts and eternal truths. She found comfort in the verifiable fact that her cousin was also to have a child. She was not alone, as she might have been, unmarried as she was. What are the facts that can sustain my heart in challenging moments? How do I let that happen? Can I visit past moments of certainty to remind me? The truth, spoken with gentleness, that the spirit of the most high would overshadow her. What a gentle expression that is – a shadow is often a very safe place to be. What truths can I bring to mind?
What past experience can I find comfort in? What place of safety can I visit? Mary gained comfort from the facts. She heard eternal truths. But she made a choice. She chose to find a way through this with God: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
There are facts. There are truths. There is my reaction to them and the consequent choices that I make.