Ash Wednesday February 10, 2016

#1 Open Up to New Birth / Sing in New Possibilities  Luke Ch. 1-2

 

And so as Lent begins we take up Luke’s story of Jesus…

For today’s reflection I texted a random assortment of friends two different questions based on the two aspects of the theme…

The responses below are a the full mix of beautiful, sublime and ridiculous…

Question 1:  Open Up to New Birth

‘So how does reading Luke Chapter 1 & 2 change when you’re pregnant or a new parent?’

?? Hmmm the whole Mary getting a baby that God will use for his purpose is un nerving… All I want to do is protect my child from the horrors of the world and keep her safe…. That is the tension 🙂 hope that helps

– Enes

 

What I’m feeling this afternoon:  I wish I gave myself more time and energy and space to “ponder things in my heart.”…

– Naomi

 

 

Our journey to having a baby makes me identify much more strongly with Elizabeth – when she says “In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people”.  Being unable to have a child was soul destroying for me, made me feel so broken and useless as a woman, betrayed by my body that couldn’t do this thing that it was meant to be built for, that women have been doing for centuries…and that is in the 21st century, not in Elizabeth’s time when being barren had far greater-reaching implications & consequences.  I can only imagine her surprise given her age, but the joy she felt must have been so immense.

There is a line in an episode of Sex & The City where Charlotte’s husband refers to them as barren and she very emotionally replies with, “We’re not barren, we are reproductively challenged” – this line pretty much sums up the experiences of the women in Luke 1 & 2 (though each for very different reasons).

Both women are so accepting of what God tells them, thought neither of them had any expectation at that time of getting pregnant – contrast with me who had all of the best medical assistance and was still in shock when they told me it had worked (I had more than a little Zechariah in me, believing it would never happen for us).

I think the biggest change for me in reading the story of the birth of Jesus as a new parent is this – the Gospels (and the Christmas carols) tell the story of a child born who would change the world, but EVERY child changes the world, perhaps not the whole world but the entire world of the parents (and the rest of the family) is forever changed because of the birth of a child.

-Bri

Question 2:  Sing In New Possibilities

‘So as a muso if you had to make comment/review the 3 songs in Luke Chapter 1-2 Xmas Album what tweet or series of tweets would you put together for Nunc Dimittis, Benedictus & Magnificat?’ (Oh and there’s that heavenly host Gloria back up vocal in there also!) …

 

Fact: there is a 98% chance baby Jesus broke wind in Simeon’s arms.

Fact: the Magnificat, or ‘Song of Mary’ would have only taken Luke but a few hours to write, if it weren’t for Vader cutting off his writing hand with a light saber..

Fact: Zechariah cut his thumb on the occasion of the first uttering of the Benedictus. It took three weeks before anyone realized baby John had not in fact been circumcised.

– Ian

 

 From Kathleen Norris:

The word bless has its origins in blood. There’s a baby coming, ‘wrapped in a woman’s blood’ (laughingbird).

A blooded blessing to deliver a life into the world.

A blooded blessing is God as a baby.

A blooded blessing is life in the world as a man.

A blooded blessing that comes with a sword piercing your soul.

A blooded blessing is life that will experience death.

A blooded blessing is what a mother can offer.

A blooded blessing can be seen by the eyes.

And all generations will call her…blooded.

(I’m not sure that tweets are all that musical myself. I’d rather be joining in the singing I think!)

– Samara

-Luke Chapter 1-2 Album Cover Design : Marcus… link to hi-res album cover here