Launching into Luke part 4

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.  Luke 1:46-56

After her encounter with the angel Gabriel, Mary leaves for her relative Elizabeth's home; as in the mother of John the baptizer's home.  One of the great images in Luke is that of a journey.  Mary takes a journey to Elizabeth's house.  So, here you are one week into the journey of 2017...how is it going? Have you done some prayerful pondering?  Have you sensed God's presence?  Are are there some lingering leftover stuff from 2016 that somehow didn't get the memo that it was supposed to go away when you hung up the new calendar on the wall?

Mary sings a song about God's realm...a world that seems upside down from the world we hear and read about every day in the news.  In many ways, Mary's hymn echos that of the peaceable kingdom in Isaiah 11:1-10, click here to read this passage.  Mary might as well have talked about wolves and sheep playing together...lions and gazelles dancing a waltz for as quickly as the powerful will be thrust/evicted from their thrones.  Yet, this vision wasn't exactly realistic in Isaiah or Mary's time either.  Isaiah lived when Babylon came in and destroyed the temple.  Mary lived in a time when Rome was watching...always watching...you.  Mary's words might have sounded fanciful or farce-like when they were first sung as they do our ears today.

So why?  Why does Mary offer a dream?  Why even talk about what God's realm will look like, sound like, feel like if it is even further away than the planet Pluto?  Because if we don't keep singing this song, we will miss the sacred subtle ways things are happening even here and now.  And they do happen.  Almost every news cast, after filling 20 some minutes with bad news, always ends with a feel good human interest story.  A police offers helps an African American boy pump up his bike tire.  A celebrity pays the doctor's bills for a sick child.  A local food bank gets five tons of food just in the nick of time.  Those subtle, not often told moments, are happening, even in our own lives.

Where this last week did you get a glimpse (or as I would call it a 'trace') of God's grace?  Where did that fan the flame of hope, offer a peace, immerse you in love, and fill you with joy?  Just like on the news, those moments might seem too few and far between.  We don't focus on the joy/goodness in our lives more than the news does.  To be sure, I am not suggesting we ignore the pain or suffering or struggle.  Mary didn't.  Yet, we don't let that be the only voice we prayerfully ponder.  We need to hold onto both the brokenness and beauty.  We need to both face the fear and stay open to the traces of grace here and now.  It is in the messy middle of those two that we might, like Mary, find our voice to sing out about the world pregnant with possibility...just as Mary and Elizabeth were when this hymn was first sung.

May Mary's prayerful plea for God's realm move in your heart and be found in moments of your life this week.

Grace and peace ~~