Hello my fellow hearkeners,
As we enter today's meditation,
I invite you to close your eyes.
Notice that with that simplest of acts,
Simply closing your eyes,
Your mind naturally gets quieter.
As our minds get quiet,
I invite you to take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
Hold it there for a moment,
And slowly let it go.
As you continue to breathe deeply,
Notice that your body organically becomes more relaxed with each breath.
As our minds continue to quiet,
And our bodies continue to relax,
We are becoming more calm,
More still.
I invite you into this calm,
This stillness.
This is to say,
Be still.
Adopt an attitude of gratitude and non-judgment.
Remember that there is no wrong way to meditate.
If you have a distracting thought,
Simply see it and let it drift through your mind like a cloud in the night sky.
Let it pass through and let it go,
And embrace a spirit of peace and loving-kindness.
It's around 4 BCE,
In Roman-occupied Israel,
Specifically in a small backwater town called Nazareth in the region of Galilee.
You are in a small hut with a peasant girl,
A teenager,
In one of the poorest towns in an already poor state.
This girl you are with,
She is nobody,
From nowhere,
She has nothing.
In this place and time,
Women and children are second-class citizens,
Poor women and children are third- or fourth-class citizens.
Such is this teenage peasant girl.
She has no education,
No claim to inheritance,
No inheritance to claim,
And very little chance in raising her status in life.
She certainly has no claim to greatness.
Her name is Mary.
She has pledged to be married to a man named Joseph,
A carpenter.
Try to picture her.
What does she look like?
Imagine the features of her face vividly,
Until you can imagine yourself there with her.
Suddenly,
On this ordinary day,
In this less-than-ordinary town,
A blindingly bright light lights up the room,
And instantaneously,
Along with the light,
A terrifyingly majestic being appears.
Mary gasps,
Surprised and visibly frightened.
Greetings,
You who are highly favoured,
Yahweh is with you,
Proclaims this mysterious figure.
You can see by the look on Mary's face,
She is confused,
And perhaps a little unsettled by this greeting.
It's an odd way to say hello to a stranger,
To be sure.
It looks as though Mary is coming to the same conclusion as you.
This must be an angel,
Like from the stories of old,
Told by your rabbis and elders.
As if to start over with a more appropriate introduction,
This angelic being begins to speak again.
Hello,
My name is Gabriel.
I am a messenger,
And have been sent with a message for you from God.
Still kind of weird,
But better.
Gabriel continues,
Do not be afraid,
Mary.
You have found favour with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son,
And you are to call him Yeshua,
Which means Yahweh saves.
He will be great,
And will be called the Son of El Elyon,
The Son of the Most High.
Yahweh will give him the throne of his father David,
And he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever.
His kingdom will never end.
How is this possible,
Mary asks,
Since I am not married yet?
Gabriel answers,
If you consent,
Shechina,
The Holy Spirit,
Will come upon you,
And the power of El Elyon will overshadow you.
The Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God,
And even your cousin Elizabeth is going to have a child in her old age.
In fact,
She is six months pregnant right now.
This is all happening because nothing is impossible.
With El Shaddai,
Mary nodded in serene agreement,
I am Yahweh's servant,
May it be as you said.
After the angel left,
An aura of peace seemed to surround Mary,
And she said,
My soul glorifies Yahweh,
And my spirit rejoices in God,
My Savior.
For Shechina has been mindful of my humble state.
From now on,
All generations will call me blessed,
For El Shaddai has done great things for me.
Holy is the name of Yahweh.
Yahweh's mercy extends to those who fear Yahweh from generation to generation.
El Shaddai has performed mighty deeds.
El Shaddai has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
El Elyon has brought down rulers from their thrones and has lifted up the humble.
The poor and the hungry have been filled with blessings,
And the rich have been sent away empty-handed.
Yahweh has helped Israel,
Remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,
Just as was promised to the ancestors.
If you join in Mary's peaceful meditation,
You can feel her peace.
Surely this child to be born will be called the Prince of Peace,
The Prince of Peace.
This child,
Yeshua,
Will bring peace to the earth.
Yeshua will bring peace to the earth.
Yeshua will bring peace to the earth.
Thank you for sharing in this tender,
Sacred moment with me today,
My friends.
May grace and peace,
Light and love,
Be with you.
