Today, I am thinking of what it means to journey toward a birthing. What does that journey involve? What preparations need to be made? What outcomes are anticipated? There is a song entitled Mary Did You Know? It is a moving song full of questions--questions that could not have been answered by Mary as she traveled to Bethlehem.
As a woman who has experienced a pregnancy and birth of a child, I can only imagine that Mary was focus on the immediate present of the journey. Most likely, she felt every bump and slip of the donkey's footfall (if she even rode a donkey). She probably felt the aches and pains of sleeping on the ground, sitting or walking for hours, and the kicking and squirming of the child. Late term pregnancy is the worst for physical discomfort. I can only think that the journey to Bethlehem was rough for Mary.
This is how it is. The journey toward rebirth, that new birth, is rough. It is full of bumps and aches. Sometimes there is kicking and squirming. It is a journey of discomfort. It requires focus on the immediate present. It is a journey of questions and anticipation. Our only assurance is that the journey must be made and that at the end of it, life will be born.
2 comments:
A few days ago during my afternoon prayer, I had this beautiful image of Mary. I am a man so I know nothing about carrying a child. But, I have seen many pregnant women gently rubbing, almost caressing their bellies. I could tell they were transmitting love to the child growing inside of them.
Can't you just picture Mary doing the same thing? Caressing and rubbing her pregnant belly, transmitting love to the Christ child inside of her. Singing to Christ while he is nestled in her womb.
Mary was blessed with the opportunity to love and nurture Christ before the world ever knew Him. The gift of experiencing life growing inside of you is an amazing gift from God. Can you imagine, as a mother, experiencing what Mary experienced?
Larry,
Thanks for your comment. I can imagine sending love to my unborn child by caressing and rubbing my belly. I know exactly what you describe because I have done it myself.
It is a way of welcoming the child and touching the child. The unborn child is part of the mother and the mother part of the child.
Pregnancy is a wonderful relationship between mother and child.
Post a Comment