We are in the Advent season and I’ve been thinking about the words of Luke 2 and the Christmas story. Mary gave birth to Jesus and was visited by some ordinary shepherds who told an extraordinary story – of angels in the sky and announcement of manger baby and glory of God – and those shepherds then went and blabbed what had been told them about the child to the whole town. The Scriptures tells us that all who heard it “wondered at these things.” And Mary quietly treasured up and pondered.
It’s got me to thinking about contemplating and about how I want to be quietly pondering during this holiday season so that I might get filled up with wonder.
What brings you to wonder?
What might you treasure up of your thoughts or moments today and this month?
(this Greek word syntereo means to preserve from being lost, to keep in mind)
What will you ponder in your heart in these days?
(Greek word symballo means to bring together in one’s mind, confer with one’s self)
It may be a bit of a stretch, but to sit with these questions seems to me a kind of meditative act. This wondering and treasuring up words spoken and mindfully bringing together experiences, for Mary and for us in our present moments, seems to be beneficial in wholistic ways (and that benefit, I speculate, is by God’s design):
*spiritually – this wondering can connect us to our true stories (for Mary and me and many - this God made man-baby that affects our relationships to divine and human) and moves us to gratitude;
*emotionally/mentally – meditative pondering can connect us to the “what is” present with acceptance [article Meditation and Psychiatry states: “…unity with the present moment brings an acceptance, even as one acts to make changes, accompanied by subjective experiences of understanding, joy, serenity, freedom and self fulfillment.9”];
*physically – connects us to better health [again, from article Meditation and Psychiatry, meditation benefits include: “Decreased stress and hypertension have been related to decreased autonomic arousal or reactivity,95–97 a possible means, along with positive emotions, reduced oxidative damage,98,99 and enhanced immune functioning,100 by which meditation may preserve cognition101 and reduce age-related allostatic stress and neuronal loss, thereby promoting brain longevity, plasticity, and learning.102,103 ]
In this holiday month may your body and mind and spirit be full of wonder as you meditatively ponder on Love and on all of Love's gifts.
Love came down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas:
star and angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
love incarnate, love divine;
worship we our Jesus,
but wherewith the sacred sign?
Love shall be our token;
love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and to all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.
- Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), 1885
[If you want, here's a Jars of Clay rendition of the song]
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