Change

“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:38).

Madonna and Child (Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci))

The other day I had my meeting planned out and everything as sorted.  And then – at the very last minute – everything changed.  Nobody did anything wrong, but everything fell out of place and instead of proceeding in one direction we proceeded in another.

I have been thinking about that lately, because it seems to me a very big deal to have to constantly worry about what direction things are going in.  Whether it is life or anything else, it seems a huge investment of time and effort to have to carry the mental load of worrying about all the different variances of life.  Instead, what could be very useful would be to understand the different parts of the event and know that I am required to be involved with only my little part.

When the Blessed Virgin was asked to be the Mother of God she was surely not expecting that at all.  Surely she thought she would lead an uneventful life doing uneventful things?  After all, she is a perfect example of humility and as a perfectly humble soul she would have been unlikely to expect very much from her life…

And yet, things changed in an instant.  The whole universe held its breath while the Angel Gabriel spoke to the Blessed Virgin and she changed her own plans and did according to God’s Will…

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’   ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’   The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.’  ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:26-38).

And I have been thinking about this.  For the greatest miracle of the world – God’s incarnation into Human Form – could only take place because a human was willing to change.  And if this is not reason enough for me to re-examine my own behaviour and my own limitations to change, then I truly do not know what is…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.