Yes, I know Christmas was 12 days ago....(darling son took both trees down today, put one at the curb, one in a box), but since today is the Feast of the Epiphany (aren't Theology majors annoying?), it's still Christmas. Every year, there seems to be one holiday song on which I get fixated; either lyrics, melody, or both continue to ring through my head relentlessly. And I have to assume that it's for a reason. God is trying to tell me something, and I can be really tough to get through to when I'm distracted. So, perpetual music running through my brain is probably as good a method as any to capture my attention, and hopefully teach me whatever it is I need to learn.
This year, the song is "Mary, Did You Know?"; it's a contemporary ballad from the '90's, performed by lots of good singers, but none better than by Kathy Mattea. If you've never heard of the song (or of her), get on YouTube, search for the song and choose her live version done in the mid-'90's. It will give you chills. And, with any luck, make you think: "Mary, did you know your baby Boy would one day walk on water?" Now, there's an image....not what one normally thinks about when looking at a newborn. "...This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you..." Whoa.
Those who know me well know that I am a Roman Catholic rebel. Despite the fact I continue to be a practicing member of the church (although lately, they're really pushing their luck...), there is no end to the number of tenets with which I disagree, either somewhat or vehemently. One in particular is this Mary business. I'm not a huge fan of the Rosary; nothing against it, I'd just rather go straight to the top. And all that Immaculate Conception jazz - which refers to her being born without original sin, NOT how Jesus was conceived; will folks EVER get that one straight? - it just never meant much to me one way or the other.
And then I read a book, which you should do everything in your power to find, by Martha Manning, called "Chasing Grace". My older sister gave it to me as a birthday present years ago, and I'm still laughing. I think it's safe to say it's one of my top five favorite books ever. If I could write half as well as Ms. Manning does, I would consider myself honored. It helps that we are both Catholics who grew up in the '60's in the midwest, but I digress. She writes chapters that are stories in themselves, and one involves an experience she had (and to which so many of us can relate) when she thought she lost her toddler daughter in a huge department store. OK, let's see a show of hands - how many of us have had that momentary lurch in the pit of the stomach when we can't find our munchkin? I've lost count of the number of times, I'm embarrassed to say. She describes the myriad of emotions engulfing her as she tries to compose herself enough to find her little girl. Of course, there's a happy ending, but that's not the point. She, like I, remembers the scripture passage where Mary and Joseph realize they have lost Jesus on a long journey back to Nazareth, and race (as much as camels can race) back to Jerusalem to find him. When they locate him preaching in the temple, and Jesus basically says, "What, you thought I was gonna hang around doing nothing all day? I've got things to do!" Mary nearly has apoplexy.....smart mouth kid.....which is when it dawns on her: This is no ordinary child. And I have no choice but to accept it.
"Mary, did you know that your baby Boy would one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby Boy has walked where angels trod, and when you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God?" Perhaps, even for this Roman Catholic rebel, there is something to be learned about patience, trust, and surrendering to the will of God from this poor, unsuspecting teenager who never asked for all this....Can you imagine being in her shoes? She's married to this guy she barely knows, many years her senior, she's pregnant and can't explain how or why, which is a billion times more of a disgrace then than it has ever been since, and she's supposed to put up and shut up when she sees her Son placed in danger, ridiculed, threatened, and eventually murdered....sure, sign me up....
So, I find myself slapping myself upside the head (metaphorically speaking, of course) when I whine and moan because Child #1 is underemployed and Child #2 has never been employed full time since college graduation...I have to remember that as challenging as they may have been these last 29 years, I will likely never have to endure the agony and heartbreak (please, God, I'm not daring you) that was Mary's lot in life.
I wonder if Martha Manning has ever heard that song......stay tuned.....
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