Reflection
When I was a little girl and I first heard this reading, I thought to myself how fortunate I am that God didn’t choose me to be the mother of Jesus. While I was taught that Mary had been given a privilege and that she was chosen for this particular life journey, I remained relieved it wasn’t me. My relief was shaped by the nasty unforgiving gossip and public shaming in my community about any unwed girl who became pregnant.
Mary faced a similarly unjust cultural stigma of social isolation; worse, in those days, her choice was life threatening. And yet somehow she consented to this plan. It was beyond my understanding. Was she, as my 18- year old niece would say, just “cray cray?”
After countless humbling life experiences, and even more countless moments sitting at the feet of wise teachers, the awareness that focusing only on what I could see, and therefore assume was true, was causing me to miss the point of this and many other teachings. Mary wasn’t crazy, she was courageous to trust in something unseen and unknown.
Crazy didn’t call on Mary that night. Love called. Until put in courageous action, love is unseen and unknown. The calling of Love is a gift and everyone – everyone - is chosen to receive it; not just those who are deemed as privileged.
In moments when what Love is calling me to do seems unforeseeable and unknown, courageous action - as a response to Love - transforms that fear into identifiable evidence of Love’s impact on humanity.
May I invite you to join me in this prayer/wish/meditation?
Love, you know us – you know what we have done and failed to do. You know our fears, our hopes, our dreams.
Love, guide us, give us wisdom, strength, courage, skill and persistence to put your loving call into action.
Marilee Ludvik, PhD
Director, Academic Effectiveness, IRE
with gratitude to the teachers at the Center for Action and Contemplation