I Wonder

The season of Advent is here, a time filled with anticipation and wonder as we await the Savior's birth and the good news it proclaims. A time of profound waiting -- experiencing and enjoying the journey toward Christmas, marked by the four Sundays that lead up to that joyous day. For me, already waiting on a good many things, it's a daunting task to be asked to patiently sit for another event. I have in place various countdowns and goals, and yet here is another I'm told to embrace with excitement and joy.

With Gus at his last evening clinical, it's just me tonight, impatient and idle, searching our bookshelves and the internet for an Advent devotion to inspire the missing wonder within me. But try as I might, nothing I find conveys the inspirational message I'm looking for.

Admittedly as a last resort, I turned directly to the source, to reread firsthand Luke's telling of the birth of Jesus. Here, the story of Mary, whom I was recently told was likely no older than thirteen at the time of her pregnancy. Imagine her fear and isolation, all she must have faced and considered as she neared the birth! Her anticipation and impatience, yes, but also a quiet faith of such strength and joy, unwavering in the face of a great unknown. My heart fills as I consider her circumstances and, finally, I feel a flicker of excitement for the season flutter within me.

And so this year, unexpectedly, it is Mary who has become the source of inspiration for my own Advent journey. An unwed, pregnant teenager from centuries ago an incredible example of patience and faith, joy and wonder.

"And Mary said: 

My soul glorified the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." (Luke 1:46-47)

"Where there is patience and humility;

there is neither anger nor vexation."

    --St. Francis of Assisi, Admonition 27