But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” This Christmas season I have been drawn to the carol “I Wonder as I Wander” over and over again. Every time I hear it I am reminded of an experience from our trip to the Badlands. The night was clear and the moon was new, a perfect night for seeing the Milky Way. So we went to the Notch trail where there is a boardwalk and even a bench to sit and watch night come. My feelings of wonder grew as I sat there. The dictionary definition captures a little of my experience that night:
Wonder: (noun) “a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” It was truly a night of wonder for me, one of those special times when you feel God’s presence. There are many times and places that you can see a sky full of stars and even the Milky Way but this time was different. An interesting thing about the word ‘wonder’ is that is also can be used as a verb. Wonder: (verb) “desire or be curious to know something.” I think of Mary’s response to the angel’s announcement. She wondered at the wonder of the announcement. She didn’t understand, she wondered, yet she trusted. I am sure that there were many more times during her life that she must have wondered again, but yet we know she was there when Jesus died on the cross. Familiar things, like a starry night, can often loose their wonder. And so it can be with the story of Mary and the birth of Jesus; it can become so familiar that we loose its wonder. Read, or better yet, listen to the story again as you wonder and wander. What do you wonder? Prayer Lord Jesus, Fill us with wonder again at your love for us. Amen
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan