Luke 1:46b-55
Mary said,
“My heart praises the Lord;
my soul is glad because of God my Saviour,
for he has remembered me, his lowly servant!
From now on, all people will call me happy,
because of the great things the Mighty God has done for me.
His name is holy;
from one generation to another
he shows mercy to those who honour him.
He has stretched out his mighty arm
and scattered the proud with all their plans.
He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors,
and has come to the help of his servant Israel.
He has remembered to show mercy to Abraham
and to all his descendants forever!”

I get why Mary sings. Carrying a child is where great wonder and gentle patience really are the best companions. The baby develops and grows in a pattern that has been repeated across millennia. In the revealing journeying together, child and mother communicate in unspoken shared moments. Through sensation and movement, each development brings an evolving closeness, a relationship that is unlike any other. The intimate and personal connection between them is one that can only be looked upon by another, and wondered at. Mary is filled with both the intimate delight of life awakening within her, an organic connection from the genesis of time, threading through creation to this point, and beyond. Through this, she is drawn to the infinite reality where God’s unexpected promises break into the immediacy of now, promises fulfilled and the unfolding of revealing hope.
Her Canticle enables her to take a moment, in her reality, to allow the wonder to unfold, and to prepare with gentle patience, the growing ‘present’ of ‘God with us’ – a gift indeed, and something to sing about.

Prayer – In Me
Gracious Light,
at first, the tiny spark seems so inconspicuous.
Yet, it begins to glow in me
in an unexpected way.
My awareness grows
that life is at a point of change.
Its dawning draws warmth to my heart,
and elicits a song from my unexpected joy.
Anticipation sits in me,
tinged with the fear of the unknown.
As the Light intensifies and grows,
I am both excited and in wonder.
Where will this Light lead?
How will it change me?
I sense an ancient connection with generations before me;
and know this Light will be present in generations to come.
All have been part of this Light’s journey.
All will be influenced by its revelation.
I want to hold each moment with patience,
as the Light strengthens and grows
in its intensity and presence.
What wonder and joy unfold!
Understanding is unbound from my innocent unknowing.
I become a witness
to the ancient and new Light,
as it reveals more of patient Love
than I have ever fathomed before.
Your intensity opens me to new life, together,
Gracious Light.

© Rev Anne Hewitt 07/12/2022
This reflection may be shared as long as the original writer is credited.