Today is only the fifth day of Advent, and already I’ve discovered something I think will stay with me for the rest of my life. It came from the devotional that goes with our Words for the Beginning worship series. (More on that in a minute.)
Are you expecting something to happen during this Advent season that will stick with you?
I can’t say that has happened during each of the Lents, Advents, Epiphanies, and “seasons after” those times that spiral back through all my years. But I do think it’s part of the wisdom of the Christian Year—in which we come to Jesus’ birth, his early ministry, his death and resurrection, and the birth of the church at Pentecost, year by year by year.
And each time, we’re different. We’re at a different spot in the histories of our families, of our work life, of our communities and nation. Things read differently, when we’re different or when things are different around us.
I heard a teacher say this, long ago, about reading the Bible. Because we’re different every time we come to it, reading Scripture becomes “biographical,” in a sense. Different things jump out at us. Something we never saw before becomes real to us, because of a thing we’re living through.
I could tell you so many times when this has happened to me, on reading Scripture.
It also happens through worship, and preaching, and coming to hymns or prayers in different seasons in my life, or occurrences in the world. My husband and I notice regularly how his path with cancer affects how we experience a multitude of things, nearly every day.
I hope you’re noticing this, too, in your own story. You’re different, too, again and again.
So, back to what I discovered already this Advent.
During this Advent season, we’re following this Words for the Beginning worship series crafted by a group called A Sanctified Art; this collective of individuals create art, music, liturgy (prayers & worship words), and more for various seasons of the church year. The quilt squares our youth are creating for every Sunday of this season are based on this resource. So are the Advent devotionals that I hope you picked up, on paper, here at the church, or are receiving, by email, each day during this season.
It was that emailed devotion that grabbed me on Tuesday. The image at the top of this reflection was created by the Sanctified Art artist Lauren Wright Pittman, and that day’s devotion contained her words about this artwork. It’s an image of the angel Gabriel with Mary, immediately after Mary has learned she will bear this son who will change the world.
What grabbed me was the peace. It made me realize I’ve always pictured this moment—the annunciation—as a time of bewilderment and troubled-ness that must have engulfed Mary as she absorbs the angel’s words. Of course, those things were true. But this artist was inspired to convey something that was also, surely, true. “What if Mary experienced pleasure?” Pittman asks. She goes on to explain how that question inspired her:
What resulted was an image of Mary and Gabriel in a warm, intimate embrace. Mary has a peace to her that is like a wave of relief over her whole being.
I love this! I looked again at the art Pittman created and realized I had missed Mary’s delight. Of course she would feel that. The woman who will soon be uttering the hymn we know as the Magnificat (Luke 1.46-55) must have been filled with joy! We’ll notice that Mary takes her place with the prophets we visited this fall; now she’s the prophet who’s saying, in essence, The Days Are Surely Coming…!
So, like I said. I’m already pretty certain this insight will shape how I look at this moment, from this Advent forward.
I love this about the Christian year. We’re never done with these seasons. There’s always more ahead of us.
I wonder what you’re discovering, even now.
