Magnificat

I've got the time, so this will be a pile-up of blog posts.  Get ready!

Every month, we gather together with the pastors and leaders of our conference.  I look forward to each one of these gatherings, because it's incredibly refreshing to move quickly in our conversations from the weather to the theological implication of preaching the crucifixion on Christmas Eve to ecumenical youth trips to the best Thai food in Rapid City.  In December, we met in Bellefourche, South Dakota, and did Holden Evening Prayer...in the morning.  The pastor leading the devotion asked me if I thought I could say something with a loud voice.

Hah.  Clearly, he doesn't know me that well.  I've been asked, on more than one occasion, to use my "inside voice" by my family.  Needless to say, I was up for the gig.

As he was reading from the Gospel of Luke, the first chapter, verses 39 to 55, it was my job to start this sound-off of women.  He read, "⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child lept in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴²and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  I spoke loudly from my seat in the pew, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  Then, another woman spoke it.  And another.  And another.  In total, approximately six women repeated the line.  It was haunting to hear the the different voices repeat the blessing from the pews.

With each voice, the line hit me harder each time.  I'm not a mother.  I don't know what it's like to have a child in my womb leaping for joy when someone else comes in to visit.  In fact, this just sounds alien and a bit creepy to me.  I never know where to place myself in the Christmas narrative as Mary is preparing herself to carry the Christ-child.  Hearing the different women say this line, some who are mothers and some who are not, pushed me to realize that our "wombs" are not only the reproductive organs in a female body.  We all have wombs.  We are wombs.

Alright, Mer, you're talking crazy stuff now.  No, seriously.  This blessing is for all of us--all sexes and all positions in life.  Our bodies, including our minds and spirits, are to produce fruit for God.  For some, that's the act of bringing a child into the world and raising her to be a faith-filled leader in the Church.  For others, it's serving the community around them as the best dentist that he can be or the faithful accountant.  We, as created children of God, are blessed by our own lives and are given the ability to create life and goodness out of our own works.  And that is blessed in God's sight as well.

I don't know that I have any good pictures to describe this, but I challenge you to think of yourself as a womb, capable of nurturing good in the world.  Peace be with you, friends.