Does Mary Have it Backward?
As I was reading the birth narrative of Jesus in Luke today I read Mary's song of praise in Luke 1:46-55. In our culture we might think that Mary would be praising God for gifts to the proud, the powerful, and the rich, but instead Mary praised God for such values turned upside down. She praised God for being a God who lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things. Maybe that should be a reminder to us all that God is working in ways we cannot imagine, even in the most dire of situations. God's name is magnified when the lowly and vulnerable are lifted up in love. Who are lowly and vulnerable in our community?
In our society, I think the homeless can be
ReplyDeleteconsidered lowly and vulnerable.
Pat Johnson
When he says the hungry are filled with good things, it makes me think of how powerful feelings of gratitude are...when I really appreciate someone or something it makes me feel vulnerable because it puts down my defenses, putting aside expenses I then want to go out of my way for others. But it starts out of a hunger for some kind of change.
ReplyDeleteWhen I haven't eaten in a while, most whatever tastes delicious. When I have struggled with something for a long time, I am hungry for change...but I do not often experience the "good things" from this struggle until I do the hard work of confession, to both myself and others. All this to say...I want to want to be lowly and vulnerable.