Advent Reflections Week 2

     

 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.   –Isaiah 43:16

“Mary’s ‘How can this be?’ was a simple response…and profound.  She does not lose her voice but finds it.  Like many of the prophets, she asserts herself before God saying, ‘Here am I.’  There is no arrogance, however, but only holy fear and wonder.  Mary proceeds–as we must do in life–making her commitments without knowing much about what it will entail or where it will lead.  I treasure the story because it forces me to ask: When the mystery of God’s love breaks through into my consciousness, do I run from it?…Or am I virgin enough to respond from my deepest, truest self, and say something new, a ‘yes’ that will change me forever?”  –Kathleen Norris from Amazing Grace