Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior….
for she has looked with favor
on the lowliness of her servant.
Surely, from now on
all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is her name.
Her mercy is for those who reverence her
from generation to generation.
She has shown strength with her arm;
she has scattered the proud in their illusions.
She has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
she has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
She has helped her servant Israel,
in remembrance of her mercy,
according to the promise she made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and Sarah and their descendants forever.”
—Luke 1.46-55
Mary already sees clearly the Reign of God that the prophets envisioned and that Jesus will establish. Salvation has come to her: despite the world’s addiction to status and its illusions of her lowliness, she knows she is blessed. Despite what the world has told her—that she is young and poor, without standing or power, that she is female, that she is someone else’s property, that she is at the mercy of other people’s whims—despite the lies of the Evil One, she believes that she is beloved. The Mighty One has already done great things for her. Even before the child is born, the Promised One has already taken the throne.
The Reign of God comes whenever the good news breaks through. It comes whenever a child feels accompanied, whenever a peasant girl believes that she is worthy. Salvation comes whenever the hungry are fed good things, and the rich turned away empty-handed, whenever the poor are empowered or the mighty made to share. The world is redeemed every time an outsider is treated with reverence, an immigrant is welcomed, an abuse victim respected. The new world dawns when a person who has been silenced speaks, or when you give light and space to a vulnerable place in your heart.
The Savior is born when we overcome our insistence on how she should come. Keep your eye on the peasant girl. She knows.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net