Luke 1:46b-55

Advent 3 - Years A, B
Advent 4 - Years B, C

This text is an alternative for the Psalm reading in Year A.

It would even be interesting to read them together and reflect on beatific experiences. Are they more active or more passive?

The Psalmist has happiness, blessedness, being hopeful. Hopeful for all to be in good order. The divisions we set between ourselves—oppressor/oppressed, gourmand, guard/prisoner, handicapped/advantaged, master/indentured, alien/citizen, related-in/exiled, and more —are only resolvable from the outside, by a G*D.

Luke has magnificence, blessedness, already come to pass. Mary knows that life has changed, even while still in the same circumstance. An assurance of mercy, regardless of circumstance, has arrived. Mary, and we, find those previously haughty toward us to be anxious, agitated, and scattered. Our hunger shifts from individual experience to a food revolution to open closed storehouses. Common-wealth becomes the measure of individual wealth and determines who will steward it.

We can act in hope and in magnificence to shift separation toward community. We can let these same qualities dull us into resigned waiting. A vision of what may yet be can be helpful to my well-being. An experience of that vision claimed and lived may also be helpful to our well-being. A basic question for both is, “What are you going to do with your hope, with a taste of hope realized?”

- - - - - - -

PS - remember that some understand a pink candle to express a hope for and thanksgiving for having experienced blessedness through a girl-baby. How does Advent impact our cultural norms and expectations? If Advent does not bring some challenge to the status quo, it is merely an idol for Black Friday commercialism.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/12/luke-146b-55.html

And why has it happened that we recognize the presence of G*D in the strangest of confining times? Happenstance? Fate? Partner? Earned?

Blessed are you who live out of an expectation of fulfillment. And then the question comes, what are you expecting? To know this is to be filled with joy.

If your vocation of prophet does not have a component of out-and-out joy, it may be time to take another look at the color of your parachute. Prophecy is not an easy road and can be entered for all manner of bogus reasons. But when it fits, it's magnificent.

As you proceed through this week it would be helpful to jot some daily notes. How did you this day magnify the subtle presence of G*D that someone else might glimpse it? And tomorrow, what did you catch moving in your peripheral vision and how did you help direct your attention and that of someone else toward it? And so on through the week - note how your soul magnifies the gentlest of touches into an ever stronger presence.

What is the dynamic-tension for your soul that will turn you from a 97 pound weakling to prophetic guide? One suggestion is that of setting your eye for the realities of this day against your expectation of the promise of a better tomorrow. Living between these worlds (in but not of them) grows the mercy needed to continue prophesying truth to power.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/december2003.html

What boldness! My soul, yes, my soul, magnifies the Lord.

Oh, I know this is supposed to be about G*D, but can you begin to imagine the difference it would make if your very life was seen by you as clarifying the presence of GOD. This is the life of Jesus, he showed us a close-up view of G*D. It wasn't about him, but his showing G*D, magnifying G*D, revealing G*D already present, but beyond the eyese of our work-a-day world.

This is Mary work, this is Jesus work, this is your work and my work.

When we magnify G*D for those in power, they finally catch on that they are not as big as they thought they were. When we magnify G*D for those out of power, they finally catch on that they are of much more worth than they thought they were.

Consider for a few seconds, what does it mean to magnify G*D? Have you seen that as your job description. How would it be for the church to not stop at making disciples of or for Jesus Christ, but simply imitate his self-avowed task allow us to see G*D much closer than we had thought possible, to magnify G*D?

Let us join Mary and Jesus in magnifying G*D so all can see, so all can repent of their supposed grandness or their ill-conceived notion of worthlessness, so all might experience the largesse of mercy, finally, mercy.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/december2003.html

"Blessed are you among people, and blessed is the fruit of your life." This is indeed an extended translation of "Namaste". Greetings between people at this level bring forth lives leaping from within - Mexican jumping beings, if you will. This greeting that sees G*D within the other is a creative word that brings forth more and more. One word leads to another, story upon story, until we marvel at how far we have come because we weren't paying attention to the results of our interaction, simply the interaction itself.

In some way we become the fulfillment of the greetings we have received and given. This is a sacred foundation that can set things right.

On this last moment of Advent we are prepared to greet another and the birthing that comes from such a meeting. An important part of our Advent journey has been to say goodbye to injustice and unrighteousness that we might move ahead with a blessing not held back by them.

- - -

magnified my soul is . . .

remembering Isaac escaped from sacrifice
cowering behind the altar
reflecting on abraham's fearful faith
finally stammering
magnified my soul is . . .

remembering mary at the cross
immobilized in hope and fear
reflecting on birth and death of love
finally stating
magnified my soul is . . .

remembering every trial come through
still caught in some unfinished
reflecting on my little jokes and G*D's big one
finally praying
magnified my soul is . . .

- - -

Prayer inspired by material from Provoking the Gospel of Luke: A Storyteller's Commentary, Year C by Richard W. Swanson (this series is evocative and recommended).

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

How do you know a Spirit Holy lives within? - - - when, no matter who shows up, for whatever reason, you respond to them, "Blessed are you among humans, and blessed is the fruit of your life. How has this happened to me, that such a blessed one crosses my journey? As soon as I heard the whisper of your presence, my hope and joy rose."

This response can awaken even more blessing in a visitor as you continue, "Blessed are you who believe you are fulfilling the best put before you."

Having set the stage with this neighborly confirmation and blessing we wait. Will this blessing clarify a direction soon or late? Will we see such a blessing built upon before our eyes or become another invisible building block to be harvested by another?

Rejoice when those who receive a blessing are able to respond in awareness, "My soul is magnified, my spirit rejoices in being lifted up. All who meet me will meet a blessing of mercy in action."

It may be important to spend more time on working out the fears and ramifications that come with this sort of blessing. If so, three months or three years, will be well invested.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html

Here is a bit of a translation by Richard W. Swanson in Provoking the Gospel of Luke: A Storyteller's Commentary --

And Mariam said:
    It extols, my life does,
        haShem.
    It rejoices, my breath does,
        at Elohim my deliverer.
. . .
    For look: from now on they will call me godlike in happiness, . . . .

- - - - - - -

The cadence makes us pause.
My life, my breath - - - extols, rejoices.
Happiness, as the rest of the poem points, is godlike, is merciful, is just.

How would you fill in the blank for today?

It __________, my life does.
It __________, my breath does.

How would you fill in the blank for tomorrow?
It __________, my life does.
It __________, my breath does.

Are they the same? different (in degree or quality)?

How connected are your life and breath with happiness, mercy, and justice?

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

Merciful restoration in the face of all that has gone wrong is a dream worth chasing. Ahaz is not the only one who won't ask for either mercy of restoration. The proud of thought, the enthroned powerful, the simply rich, and more rely on their wealth, strength, and entitlement. And, in one way or another, that includes me. And you?

Even our prayers, ever so humble they may be and well-crafted to our need, are embued with unacknowledged and denied anger. Crocodile tears of false sorrow cleanse not even shallow scrapes, much less deep wounds. Our fears lead us to scorning the least source of hope, words and actions from good samaritans or regular, run-of-the-mill aliens.

Merciful restoration is measured the same way every good is, by strength beyond our strength to continue, a lifting of darkness by small lights of kindness, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, releasing the imprisoned, taking in the exiled, etc.

Merciful restoration is not yet present. We wait. We yearn, We walk toward.

- - -

magnificent soul
rejoicing spirit

ancestral promises
echo within

beauty buds
generosity blossoms

and then
anger surfaces

petty prayers
tears aplenty

slightest mars
entirely disfigure

where soul
when spirit

neighbors scorn
enemies triumph

promises emptied
faces collapse

where mercy
when restoration

lowly favors
enthroned shepherds

enough magnificence
restore mercy

merciful restoration
obsession enough

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

In some ancient manuscripts these magnificent words are attributed to Elizabeth.

There is nothing uniquely Marian about these words.

This means they can also be my words. They can be your words.

What would it mean for you to begin each day with this recitation on your tongue.

Imagine it, G*D's presence/promises are active from before Abraham right up to now and beyond. How would rehearsing this every morning change what goes on in your life during the rest of the day? You do know, don't you, that that question can only be answered by trying it. So try it. Start now. This is the first moment of your day.

I'm bursting with God-news;

I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.

[Oh, yeah? Are you doing this in front of a mirror? How would anyone know you are bursting and dancing?]

God took one good look at me, and look what happened -

I'm the most fortunate [person] on earth!

[Yep! G*D looks "good" at you. Who are you looking "good" at?]

What God had done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

[Well, a better image for us might be "God whose very name is holy, present in the depths of each other."]

[G*D's] mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before [G*D].
[G*D] bared [an] arm and showed ... strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
[G*D] knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
[G*D] embraced [a] chosen child, Israel;
... remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

[And what mercies are you piling high?]

It's exactly what [was] promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

[Including "now" so be brave right now.]

[The Message, modified]

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/december2002.html

So, is this Mary's song? Some ancient texts call this Elizabeth's song. Might it also be your song?

This is one of those Ecclesiastes "there is a time" visions. A time for mercy binding us together and a time for strength to scatter us. A time for knocking tyrants (how'd they get there in the first place?) and a time for rescuing victims (how'd they get there in the first place?). A time for feeding and a time for fasting. A time to embrace and a time to promise.

Of course you will add your own couplet from your own life experience. For me right now it is a time to put down a call and a time to pick up a new ministry. We are called out of as well as called into and it is important to honor both side of this coin. [Can we see tyrants and victims in this same light of both sides of the same coin - perhaps if we take the time to investigate how such a state came to be we might catch a glimpse of a connection between the two rather than seeing them as opposites to be chosen between. This is tough material. Keep meditating.]

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/december2002.html

I'll be called blessed. (Lk 1:48)

Come to save us. (Ps80:2)

Do you sense that you are already blessed and that blessing will be made visible to others?

Do you sense that there is still some action that needs to be completed before our blessing can be acknowledged?

This is a significant branching on a decision tree. It is almost as if they belong to different species.

Do you flip-flop back and forth between these two? Are they pretty equally balanced, canceling each other out? Is one of these definitely more prominent than the other?

How do you see others in your family, your congregation, your nation? Are you part of the majority around you or do you bring an alternative perspective?

My sense is that Mary's response comes from the prophetic tradition and the Psalmist is here reflecting the priestly approach. I don't want to push this very far, but it might be interesting to chart how your day and week go. Where have you found yourself between these polarities? Were there similarities of experience that might match up to your living out of blessing or saving language?

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/december2003.html

"Let your face shine." (Psalm 80:3&7)

God "looked with favor." (Luke 1:48)

Whether or corporate or individual there is a looked for light of openness at the end of our tunnels.

When all we see the reality of our frailty and hunger that seems to darken every horizon we strain toward - comes a smile, a token.

Just like when very thirsty it is best not to guzzle, so when darkened it is often helpful to first find a glow before glory.

While we can look back to Moses' face shining too brightly and favors one could do without (a pregnancy here, a crucifixion there), we would do well to first look for the spots already glowing, before they break into full streaming light.

We look for the beginning stages of great reversals that we might nurture them along.

For some reason all this leads me to explore separating peace and justice. While there is a connection and an influence back and forth they are not best seen as flip sides of a coin but two different realities. Justice looks to the restoration of community and Peace to the creativity of an individual. Hence, peace has to do with presence, with shining faces, and justice with showing favor.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/december2003.html

There are standard operating principles for everything. Even thieves have an M.O. (modus operandi). G*D's M.O. seems to be oriented toward seeing that justice is done — that the rich and poor are balanced so the rich don't have too much (discouraging them from changing themselves and the system) and the poor don't have too little (discouraging them from changing themselves and the system).

Whether you listen to the Psalmist or Mary, extraordinary singers, both, you will find the same sort of emphasis — laments, prophecy, praise — all oriented toward living wholly as an individual and as a community and as a world. In this way they are reflecting G*D's M.O. back to G*D and allowing it to transparently shine through them to others. Pretty tricky these singers to be both reflective and transparent. That is an art form in and of itself.

So what is your M.O. when dealing with someone richer than yourself? With someone poorer? Are they close to the same or considerably apart? (You may want to check out where you are with your wealth in relationship to others and that can be done at the Global Rich List.)

What is your M.O. when dealing with someone on the same theological wavelength? With someone who is not? What ratio of time do you spend with one category or the other?

What is your M.O. when dealing with your own spiritual growth? Has that changed over time or it is it still the same as it was when you had your first theological growth spurt?

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/december2004.html

There seems to be a time for all things under heaven. Satisfied for the moment,? - hang on a bit and you'll have an opportunity to once again come face-to-face with suffering and need to yet again come to terms with it. Having great difficulty? - uno momento , it will all come 'round right in some valley of love and delight.

Seedtime to harvest, powerful to lowly, hungry to full, weeping to joy. There are longer arcs and shorter ones, but they are none-the-less arcs of pendulum periodicity. These seem to go on with some timed frequency beyond our usual ken. Getting in tune with these arcs leads us to participate in them through some planned perturbation. Get ready to participate in moving your life arc and that of all of us together into a new phase. We do this by not acquiescing to our current state and not simply taking the opposite pole. Our call is to holding both arcs within ourselves, being the unity they have fractured from.

Jesus leads us into the space between past promises and emerging mercy. Here we travel with G*D, as did Mary and Jesus and others, to bring to limited situations an expanded picture of options. In between we can find healings not bound by distance. In between we can find exemption from laws. In between we can find partnership, not patriarchy. In between we can find our rich selves emptied and our fallow selves cultivated once again. In between we can find a connection between our unique and our cultural selves.

How would you describe the arcs you are between? Where between are you? Which way would you ordinarily be traveling? How might you effect a change in that expectation?

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/december2005.html

David sees what G*D is going to do through him to make him mightier.

Mary sees what G*D is going to do, beyond the blessing she has received, to make all more whole.

Both of these are appropriate, from time to time, as we find ourselves intimately engaged in the experience of G*D . There is a call for us to be at the center of the action and to be able to gaze wonderingly and unattached upon it that self-same center.

These understandings can swap on a moments notice and also find one or the other as a predominant organizing principle for long seasons of life. So, where is your engagement level during the hour in which this note is read? Is this a new position for you or have you been responding thusly for days and weeks and months and years and decades? Do you sense a shift coming as new experiences bring new perspectives.

Last night's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart noted that South Africa's highest court has instructed the legislature there to get on with legalizing marriage between two folks of the same "sex" and this puts America in the position of being less progressive than South Africa. Another way to put that is that we are now more apartheid, using gender as the category of division instead of color/race, than South Africa, who was once the poster-child for apartheid theology.

How do you see the issues of gender inclusiveness or diversity playing out in the visions of David and Mary? Are you engaged in helping them come to pass or watching and waiting (expecting) for G*D to care for it?

- - -

Anonymous (Reader)

What exactly do you mean by God needs a helpmeet?

- - -

Wesley (Blogger)

When dealing with evocative mythology the category of "exact" is slippery. The imagery here is taken from Genesis 1:26 - "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind [adam] in our image, according to our likeness: and let them have dominion [here "rule" as differentiated in the next creation story of "cultivate"]...." and Genesis 2:18 - "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner...."

Do these passages speak of the same desire for relationship or partnership or helpmeet status? Is partnership innate to G*D and G*D can see this same need in us as we are made in G*D's "image"? Clarence Jordan is explicit in his translations about this partnership with G*D. In other translations it takes a bit more to tweeze it out from covering language.

All through the Hebrew scriptures we hear images of G*D and Israel as husband and wife. In the scriptures about Jesus we hear about the Bride of Christ. These are all helpmeet images.

Time is short as the snow comes and the day's schedule presses on. Hope this points some directions about what stood behind the helpmeet imagery. I'd be glad for your further reflections on the scriptures for the week as I do think we are partners of one another, as well, and working on our differences can be pleasurable, edifying, and unifying (unlike in our culture's yelling heads who are ostensibly imparting information but are simply parroting propaganda in its worst sense and turning differences into danger and distance from one another).

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/december2005.html

Perplexity can be left alone or challenged. Our confusion points come from inside and out. David and a Temple raises questions from a prophet. Mary and a pregnant question rise to challenge an angel.

David's going ahead meets reversal and he holds back. Mary's holding back meets reversal and she goes ahead. Both are promised good fruit - descendants for ever and for good.

In the midst of a king's word being his bond and a young girl's fear raising deep questions we find prophets and angels - catalysts for reversal and renewal. In the midst of a world not knowing how to back off from misused power and individual fears arrayed against creative peace, we are still in need of prophets and angels.

Priests would urge us to build a bigger box in which to praise and communal mores would belittle the slightest change in acceptable perspective or behavior. Prophets and angels are where the breaks in our power and fear can welcome an outsider (Gentile Alien) without first shunning or reconstructing them.

What will it take for us to listen to the questions, inside and out? Can we hear the Nathan's currently speaking? Can we listen to a Child within?

What will it take for us to speak truth to power and hope to fear?

- - -

my spirit rejoices
I have been blessed enough
to back down from my word
to forge a new word

blessed enough
mercied enough
steadfastly loved enough

a mysterious revelation
a questing proclamation
release blessing enough
to rejoice my spirit

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Gaudete Sunday is a moment of joy while waiting. It plays the same role in Advent as Sunday's do in Lent - a reminder of resurrection. In these lections that joy is connected with justice, renewal, and a voice from the wilderness, calling forth renewal through justice.

Given the devastation of many generations it takes a call from an unexpected source to get through to us regarding the source and location of renewal. These forgotten, avoided, and fearful waste places of life lie across and away from our usual religious Jordan boundaries.

A way in which this shows up is found in Psalm 126.

We can look back:
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

In our present:
The joy of justice revealed comes to the fore, the straight-jacket of the past with all its apparent fatalism has changed streams in ways we could not predict. We rejoice at having come thus far.

In our present:
The recognition that justice has not yet been completed raises its reality. We yet stand in need of not getting trapped in the fatalism that today will be extended into the future, ad infinitum. We rejoice in anticipation of going further.

We can look ahead:
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home
with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

Or, as Paul puts it:
Rejoice always,
pray (be renewed) without ceasing,
give (renewed) thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus
for you.

- - -

where is there not trouble . . .
Darfur, Iraq, Figi . . .
poverty increasing, hunger growing . . .
abusive homes in our community . . .
divided hearts within ourselves . . .
trouble enough for any day,
particularly one after Human Rights Day?

where is there energy to renew
broken dreams, dashed hopes
if not in laughing justice
connecting
re-connecting
restoring
shouting for joy

revived with a flood of justice
we pass this gift forward
shedding light abroad
testing a wasteland voice
echoing
repairing
rejoicing

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Be patient, therefore, "bewombed".... This is variously translated as brothers, beloved, friends, etc., but the awkward neologism is more accurate and evocative.

Patience is possible when we look at our common connections that puts the present in larger perspective. Patience is difficult in the face of a temptation to grumble, not a lot, just a little mumble that will, inexorably, eventually grow to judgment and division. To see a common source life, rather than simply my individual life, brings a gift of humility needed for patience.

When having waited for seemingly too long, it is difficult not to question a soft little question, "Are you the one...?" It is likewise difficult not to spin a response, even one based on experience of sight and sound. For the moment, though, suppose you were called on to respond to a question (presume it is lovingly asked) "Is the church the one...?" Where would you point to ground your response? If you can point at all, would it be toward a common start of creation, particular instances of resurrection, or a tentative sign of hoped for things to come?

Put another way, what are we willing to go to any length or locale to find? Might it be connected with the meaning found in a prophetic tradition of suffering (repentance and renewal) and patience (forgiveness and hope)?

With the prophets we find the terror of G*D - salvation. This terror has to do with the consequences of life lived out of blindness coming home to roost as well as a necessity to admit to the need to change direction. Who in their right mind would look forward to honest consequences or one more change?

In craving a joyful moment in a time of waiting, we can be satisfied by recognizing an antidote to the terror of suffering is a gift of patience.

- - -

your patience while I am harried
adds to my suffering

I see desert all about
you find cool, clear water
thirsty for any relief in a wilderness
I bemoan your pilgrim's way
are you simply you or mirage?

a messenger go-between would be nice
to test everlasting joy
joy within and beyond
suffering patience

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Blessed are you who believe there will be a fulfillment of what is spoken to you by G*D, the Universe.

What have your heard? This is important - what have you heard? We can’t go further until you identify what you have heard. Do you hear how important hearing is? It is the beginning that will require cycles of work and rest.

Thank you for listening and trusting it to be true.

Thank you for also recognizing the danger inherent with listening to voices. Blessings on your discernment.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/12/luke-139-56.html

Confirmation of an experience is helpful. Remember back to verse 29 — Mary was deeply troubled by being pregnant. By verse 34 she was questioning, “How can this be” or “Why”. Some form of resignation came in verse 38, “Let it happen”.

Within days Mary set off for Aunt Elizabeth’s. Everyone needs a confessor beyond their immediate “family” (a spiritual director from a different tradition is almost necessary). Here, again, Mary found love without expectation hedging it in.

Given this journey it is no accident that Mary’s song is both uplifting and challenging. Her phrasing soars and her content is prophetic. Isn’t this also the way we respond after giving and/or receiving support based on glimpsed but yet unseen abundance? So give; so receive; so sing.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/12/luke-146-55.html

There are times in life when we are mobilized to react with haste. Had John Wooden been available as Mary’s coach, he would have counseled, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” After her haste Mary comes to John’s ancestress, Elizabeth, speaking as Yoda, “Quiet she is, trusting full.”

The odds are that this was not the first time fetus John had leapt. So let’s take a little focus off an apology of coincidence and put it on a gift of insight or discernment. May you be quick to spread a blessing. It will land where needed.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/12/luke-139-45.html

This text is an alternative for the Psalm reading.

It would even be interesting to read them together and reflect on beatific experiences. Are they more active or more passive?

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/12/luke-146b-55.html

Luke 1:46b-55

Advent 3 - Years A, B Advent 4 - Years B, C

Advent 3 - Years A, B
Advent 4 - Years B, C