Today’s chosen scripture is from the first chapter of Luke, Mary’s Song or “The Magnificat” ~ the song she sings after hearing she will bear God’s son, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
For those of you who follow the lectionary, I understand this is Way out of sequence. Chronologically this comes nine months before Christmas not two weeks before. However, the first time I was ever asked to dance in church it was for a Christmas Eve service and I was asked to dance The Magnificat. It began for me a long and glorious faith journey of dancing to hymns, scriptures, and anthems. And over and over again through the years, I danced Mary’s song again.
Then one year, a beautiful younger woman in my dance ensemble was pregnant. By then my hair was grey and my own children grown. This was her first. She was also African American with dark hair and a lovely dusky skin color, surely more akin to mid-eastern Mary than mine ever was. I asked her to dance it.
People wept. They really saw Mary, many for the first time ever. There she was, pregnant, scared, filled with praise for God even her questioning and wondering. And about to give birth to their Savior. Her image is forever in my mind whenever I read these powerful words of hope and praise:
My soul magnifies my God,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . .
May your spirit rejoice even as you question, ponder, worry and celebrate. May you be blessed on your journey of grace.
3 comments:
I love that recollection! And btw today's lectionary allows for the Magnificat as an alternative to the Psalm. In our church the opening hymn today was a beautiful appreciation of the Magnificat. Marvelous!
Oh I'm glad to hear that about the lectionary. I was thinking of you particularly when I wrote that.
Yes, it was in yesterday's lectionary... And it was one of the Taizé readings I chose last night...
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