I
wonder what it was like.
I
wonder what it was like for Joseph, aspiring carpenter, engaged to Mary,
setting up a nice little niche for himself in his corner of the world. Then he
gets the news: Mary is pregnant. His life is interrupted. But God reassures him
that all will be well.
I
wonder what it was like for Mary, betrothed to Joseph, who is told she is with
child through amazing means. What will Joseph say? How will she live in a world
that frowns upon her situation regardless of the details? Her life is
interrupted. But God reassures her that all will be well.
I
wonder what it was like for the shepherds, working folk going about their
nightly duties on a hillside when a chorus of angels, bright and booming, sing
to them of something wondrous in the nearby city. Their lives are interrupted.
But God reassures them that all will be well.
And
I wonder what it was like for Zecharias, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, and the
unnamed families and friends who undoubtedly were a part of this unfolding
drama, who’d been used to certain ways that things just happen, until one day
they don’t happen like that anymore. One day they are given news that
everything is going to be different.
Was
it exciting? Or terrifying? Or did it produce untold anxiety? Were people
stunned to the point of paralysis? Did some immediately launch into what they
knew needed to be done in response? Did people allow themselves to grieve what
was passing away, even if the future held possibility that they couldn’t yet
see?
We
don’t need to wonder what it was like, because we know. We’ve shared or
received news like this: birth or death, marriage or divorce, illness or
recovery, loss of a home or a new home to be made, a new job or retirement,
hellos and goodbyes.
And
somehow God was present in each one. God’s good news has always been
intertwined with the news of our lives. With change and loss comes new birth;
possibilities we may not even be able to see. Regardless of our own ability to
understand, divine forces sing us to the manger to see what newness awaits us.
Our
lives are interrupted. But God reassures us that all will be well.