I hope your celebration this year has been all that you hoped for and more with constant reminders of the Reason for the season. And I guess that's what this post will be about, though perhaps from a different angle than you've previously considered.
Do you have a favorite Christmas carol? Mine are:
- What Child is this?
- Mary, Did You Know?
- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
The first two always make me think of Mary, a woman who has forever intrigued me - a young woman who is more esteemed and more mysterious than perhaps any other female in history. So little is said of her in the Bible, and so often I have wondered about her. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Proverbs 31 - I even get the name of this blog from that passage - which describes a woman of noble character. I feel like I know that woman - I know how she respects her husband, how she labors day and night to care for her family, how she nurtures her children so they arise and call her blessed, how she cares for her household and those in need around her. We are given a glimpse of who she is - and though it is only 1 chapter, I feel like I know her. I want to be her.
But what about Mary? Word for word, I think (though I didn't do an exhaustive count) Mary is talked about more in the Bible than my Proverbs 31 woman whom I claim to know. But who was Mary? I want to pretend to be her best friend for a minute and ask a few questions...
Mary, I have something to tell you! Ok, ok, you go first! WHAT!?!?!? You're pregnant?!? But you haven't... No. I didn't think so. Then how? Really?!? Really. Oh. An angel? Uh-huh. Ok, I guess I trust you - I have known you forever and you're not one to lie. Have you told your family? How did they take it? Have you told Joseph? Well, we'll just have to see how things play out. I'm sure Joseph will handle the situation in an honorable way, I mean, he is a good man. Oh my - it's so overwhelming! The reality is we can't solve all those problems now - what's that? Oh! I can't even remember what I was going to tell you! But I have more questions...
So tell me about being pregnant! What's it like? Have you had morning sickness? Even when bearing the "Son of God!?!"? Wow. So what about sleep? I hear pregnant women complaining about getting up in the night to use the "facilities" - do you? Have you talked to a midwife? Are you exhausted? Have you felt baby kick? Does the baby keep you up at night with wiggling and kicking? Are you sure it's a boy? Can you really be sure? Do you feel alone? Are you feeling calm or anxious or a little of both?
[A few months later] So you're nearing full term now. Have you had any scares - a fall, bleeding, early contractions? Any braxton hicks? Does baby hiccough a lot? Catch me up on your life - where will you deliver? WHAT?!?! Joseph is taking you WHERE?!? Doesn't he know that you'll be about ready to have that baby? What does he think, that you can just birth a child anywhere? Well, I guess the worst that could happen is to have the baby along the side of the road in some little shack or cave or barn, Ha! What are the odds of that happening!?! Are you upset that you're going to travel - too bad the midwife won't forbid the travel this late. Who would help you if you go into labor so far away from home and family? I wish I could go with, but I have to be counted elsewhere...I mean, can you imagine what it would be like to be her best friend?
It sounds so gentle, "she brought forther her firstborn son." Not so I'd wager. I bet it was just like God said in Genesis - painful. After my first was born, I needed help from professionals, some time to recap the events with my husband, to blog and share with the world my newest, most valuable treasure. I needed rest, peace, and encouragement as I embarked upon this new, exciting, terrifying journey called motherhood. I wonder, what about Mary...
What did she think when a band of stinky shepherds came to see her baby in a manger? Was she proud to show him off? Insecure about where she had him (in a stable, with nothing better than a manger for a bed, but then, the shepherds wouldn't think less of her for that, would they, that she didn't have the latest Caesar-Augustus-safety-approved cradle)? Did she wonder why these riff-raff were there? Did they ask to hold Him? Did she make them "Purell" their hands? Did they ask about how her labor went? Did they leave in a timely fashion so she could feed Him and get some much-needed rest? Who was there to shoo them away? Nurses? Her mom? Her grandmother? And how soon did she get to/have to leave that stable? Traveling is NOT pleasant after giving birth, but maybe she got moved into a room in the inn? Would someone have taken pity on them or have fallen in love with Jesus's adorable newborn baby-ness and let the new little family have a room?
Arrrggghhh! The questions I would ask if I had Mary's ear for a few minutes! But alas I don't. And I don't get to ask her about raising the perfect Son either. She was the mother of the Savior, and yet I get no parenting advice from her. (Wouldn't you hate to compare your kid to hers - Jesus, literally the perfect child, compared to *insert your child's name here*?)
But then, I suppose that these unanswered questions are intentional. You see, if the story included much more about Mary, I would be tempted to focus my attentions on her. But important as this blessed woman is to the holiday, she is not the reason for the holiday nor the one who ought to be studied.
Instead, on this day, Christmas, we honor and remember and worship the Christ, the Son of the Living God. What a privilege it is to know Him, to know that He knows me, that He calls me by name and claims me as His own. Mary is only valuable as an individual to study in so much as she points us to the Savior.
Perhaps someday I'll get to bend Mary's ear for a minute or two over some cup filled with a Heavenly nectar as we stroll the streets of gold, but for now and for always my focus must be on the One who I can know, the One who has shared with me His character, the One who deserves my honor, respect, submission, my all.
So although 2 out of 3 of my favorite Christmas carols make me think of Mary, I'm reminded this day, yet again, that my focus must be on Jesus. May those carols henceforth point me from Mary directly to the Christ child.
Merry Christmas, dear reader, and Happy Birthday, Jesus.
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