the words of Advent.....ponder

ponder

Ponder is a word used by poets and pundits.  Most of us regular folks don't 'ponder' things much.  We are much more inclined to 'give it some thought.'  So, of course, I am going to ask you to consider the possibility that 'pondering' is much more than just thinking.

It is Luke's telling of the birth of Jesus that leads me to 'pondering.'  It all begins with an angel announcing to Mary "Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.'  Luke then tells us that Mary was 'quite perplexed by these words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be."

 It is the greeting that precedes 'The Annunciation.'  (always capitalized).  The angel Gabriel has brought the message of  Mary's coming pregnancy, brought to her by the Holy Spirit.

She ponders.....and it is right and good for her to do so.  This is other worldly news which is going to have multiple 'this world' complications.

Then what do you know, nine months later, after a night of labor and delivery, some shepherds show up and weave some wild story about angels and heavenly announcements.....and Mary ponders.

Obviously Mary was no stranger to either angels or heavenly announcements, so maybe this second experience of cosmic intervention in her life is more than she had counted on.  Perhaps this second angel/heavenly message combination finally moved her to take it all a bit more seriously.  Maybe Mary was simply wondering whether there was yet another angel in her future.

Whatever the reason, Mary 'treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.'

There, in her heart, are words of God's favor and angel choruses and a child....a son....to be the Son of the Most High.  There in her heart are questions of how and why and what this will all mean.  All these things are there in her heart along with the love that bursts forth in full bloom at the glimpse of your new born child.  So it was exactly like every other mother who cradles the newly born in love, and exactly not like that at all.

You can see why this called for pondering.

I think God calls all people to ponder things like the intersection of their lives with the Divine Life. God calls us to ponder what our role might be in God's bringing of new life. However, knowing what the end of the Jesus story is, I also think that knowledgeable people are pondering how our story will end, and at what cost.

At this point in the story, Mary had no idea how much there would be to ponder.  We rarely do either.

Great are the works of the Lord, they are pondered by all who delight in them.  Psalm 111.2