A Promise and a Pledge

In the Midwest, there could be an alternate name for the January 1 holiday, and that is “fun time is over.” We know that the lights and decorations of Christmas will soon be coming down and that the tough part of winter lies before us.

One consolation is that winter gifts us with more brilliant, dramatic sunsets. There are scientific reasons for this: the lower angle of the sun, drier air (water particles in the air tend to diffuse light and therefore color), etc. There is a work of art in the skies on every clear evening. It feels like a promise and a pledge that we can get through this.

Today we celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus. Probably, she had a typical early childhood for her day but after that, all bets were off. Her life took twists and turns that no typical young person could be expected to navigate. There must have been times when she wondered why she was chosen. She may even have thought something like, “I wish God would stop blessing me so much.”

From her Magnificat in Luke, we see that Mary had a clear channel to and from her Creator. She could not have grasped the whole plan—none of us do—but she had a sense that there was a plan, and a planner. She let go of the guardrails that keep us on an everyday path and simply trusted. And rather than going into a freefall of despair, she rose up, borne on the strength that God promised her. And all generations call her blessed.

We can follow Mary’s example of trust and love. Like a spectacular sunset on a winter evening, God whispers to us, “Don’t you want to see what happens next?” And like Mary, we answer yes.