Mary; Out of Her Shell

On Day 27 of The Social Justice Bible Challenge the author of this reflection chooses Luke 1:39-55 as her text. This is the beautiful "song" of Mary, the Magnificat. The author describes Mary as, "... impulsive, brave, and radical" and admits that we more often think of her as, '... meek and mild..." But given the solique that Mary has in Luke's book "brave and radical" are apt descriptions.

     "Mary sings that God is not only lifting up the poor but also that God is tearing the rich and powerful down from lofty places. This is radical indeed, particularly in our time in which the wealthy are emulated." (page 104)

On this 20th day of December 2017 with a wealthy, self-centered, wannabe despot sitting in the White House who cares nothing for the "lowly" Mary's words that, "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (v. 52b-53) in many ways seem no nearer now than it did 2000 years ago. And although we can today see organizations, both NGOs and religious institutions, who work to help to feed the hungry and cloth those in need the forces of greed and Earthly power claim victories even in this "Christian nation" where forces opposed to Mary's sentiments push for legislation that deprives those most in need and pushes wealth upward to further enrich the wealthy, currently labeled as the "1%".

What are we to make of this contrast between Mary's vision and what we think of as reality now in this time? We can look with hope at history that tells us that the despot, the extremely greedy, and those who grasp for power at the expense of others, who build their houses on the sand of these goals (gods) will see their mansions crumble and be exposed for their hollowness. But we can not wait around for history to bring this about. We must do what we can to push history along toward Mary's better vision of society. We push whenever we can by "speaking truth to power" in our conversations with others, by writing letters to Congress persons, and news outlets. By challenging the new normal when ever and where ever possible in a myriad of peaceful actions.

Reality tells us that greedy, unscrupulous people will try and sometimes succede in gaining power again and again even after others have struggled to construct a just society. So it is an on going task.  But, as Christians, it is a task that we are called to. The radical Jesus championed the poor underclass all during his time on this beautiful blue marble and he called on his disciples (that includes us) to do the same. His message at its most basic is to love God and to love our fellow human beings. He made this clear when challenged by those in authority and when he called for God's kingdom to come in a prayer that he taught his disciples.

If we ask God will give us the wisdom, and courage to help, "... thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."