I've been pregnant 4 times, and given birth an equal number. A couple of those times the news was, to be polite, a BIG surprise. Once early in my life, once much later, I learned that I was to become a mother in days when babies weren't part of my plans. But they quickly became just that. As my mother said of her seven children "I practiced planned parenthood. As soon as I knew I was pregnant I planned to have a baby."
This weekend I'll be using Mary's Magnificat as the text. As I read the text, she too was the recipient of a BIG surprise. Her recorded reaction was 100% different than mine. "Let it be done according to God's will." And then her poem, song of praise -- the Magificat. Praising God for getting her in a family way before she had even lived with Joseph? Even though she was promised to become the mother of the Chosen One, I think its remarkable that she could start singing a happy song, without stopping to think about the stuff that was going to happen to her that wasn't going to be so exciting.
Yet she did. Her reaction is that of someone whose faith is unshakable and whose being is entirely infused with the desire to please God. Mary's reaction to this pregnancy is an example of someone who assumes God knows best first and then, perhaps, looks at the wider ramifications. I haven't reached that ability yet. I'd like to get even 1/2 way there before I die. I'm certain that the world would be a much better place if we could all leap to this particular conclusion first: no matter what happens, God can shape it for the good of all concerned.
That world would be truly magnificent, wouldn't it!
