Advent – the season leading up to Christmas.
In my own life, Mary has become the primary focus of this season and her great ‘yes’ into a journey of the unknown. I find this ‘yes’ continually compelling as it wasn’t a one-time yes for her but a posture that guided her life. Her open hands, her open heart speak of a profound trust in what she could not see, name, or know.
This is an archetypal posture that leads me into contemplation again and again. How I long to see! How I long to name! How I long to know! But the soul journey seems to require a different sort of paradigms. The soul journey seems to find its deepest resonance in darkness when one really has no idea where one is going.
This Mary in the garden is at the front of my home and I can see her as I write this blog. Her posture of prayer is a guide to my own life – open hands and open heart. This isn’t easy or comfortable. And frankly, sometimes I wrestle deeply here. But the fruit of this way of being has brought so much riches into my life that I am compelled to continue as best I can, day by day, decision by decision.
May Mary be a gift to your own heart – wherever you may be this moment. Below you will find a link to a song which speaks to me of her incredible courage.
