I can just
imagine that being the reaction by certain individuals if they had a modern
Mary, mother of Jesus, speaking this outrageous song, known as the Magnificate, in public.
They would want to shut her down and tell her to be quiet. They would tell her to stop being political,
or stop being a man-hating feminist.
They would buy the cutesy Christmas cards of Mary looking at an adoring
baby and bypass Mary the soap-box preacher dressed in rags.
Mary is a
powerful dynamic speaker in a time when women didn’t count much. The fact that someone took the time to record
her name and her words is amazing! Even today when girls aren’t seen as worth
educating in some cultures, often one girl will make her voice heard despite
those handicaps. It’s something teen age
girls often do.
I first learned
about teen age girls as prophets when I read of Hermione Granger and her
passion for house elves. Elves, in the
Harry Potter world, are treated like possessions and slaves, and are
disrespected by the wizarding world.
They are invisible, and not worthy of fair treatment by their
masters. Hermione is outraged by this
and tries to empower them, not understanding their culture or their point of
view. But she has a passion to see
justice done, and will do whatever she can.
J. K.
Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, once said that teen-age girls
are full of passion and want to make a difference in their worlds. They become crusaders for justice and
equality. Some of the first Methodist women
preachers in Canada go back to the 1800’s, and in 1819, their average age was
19! So we have young ladies like Malala
Yousafse, who was only 17 when she won the Nobel peace Prize. She was inspired by Emma Watson, who
struggled with being treated with disrespect because she was female, and who
decided she would be a feminist when she was 14.
Emma Watson
cared about world issues because of the character she was playing in movies,
the character of Hermione Granger, again, beautifully written by J. K. Rowling. Rowling’s writing is full of deep conversations
of what makes life worth while, and there are many times when she does not shy
away from gritty descriptions of life.
Rowling lived in poverty, and was a single mom. There were some days where she struggled with
depression and suicide, but all this became part of what makes her stories
resonate with youth and young adults. They inspire joy that even young people can
make a difference in addressing big issues.
We so often
mix up joy with happiness, and I think that we need to rethink what we are
looking for this Advent. Are we looking
for joy, which is lasting, or happiness, which can be fleeting? Mary’s song is full of joy, but her life, if
the Gospels can be trusted, was not a happy thing. Fleeing violence on one hand (Matthew’s story
of the trip to Egypt), and social judgement on the other (Luke’s tale of
visiting her aunt in another region of the country, away from gossiping eyes),
she lived a hard life as a young poverty stricken mother. With prophesies from temple officials that
her baby would die in a way that would pierce her heart, she did not expect
happiness in life. She did experience
joy. Joy rooted in Justice.
Our society
is becoming increasingly a place where justice and equality is publicly
supported but privately trashed. We fail
to think about the difference between a lasting joy rooted in values and
principles compared to happiness which is often rooted in things or places or
people. The great wine, the excellent
tv, the newest kitchen counters and cupboards, and so on. That kind of happiness doesn’t stand up to
the grittiness of life.
It’s called
sentimentality. The idea that we can get
our ‘fix’ from short-term easy solutions for happiness. We want cheap and easy answers that we don’t
want to have to think through. It’s much
easier to yell, “Lock her Up” and go along with the crowd than think about the
intention behind such a statement.
Should women be locked up just because they want to have a political
career? Should feminists like Emma
Watson have to listen to threats, insults and disgusting comments? Should men feel the pressure to keep being
tough at all costs for fear that someone would take away their “man card”
whatever that is? The truth is that we
live in gritty times and there are no easy answers to what we face. If we want an easy life, we won’t have a
joyful life. If we want a just life,
lived to high values, it won’t be easy.
Life is not
easy. We are wounded, blind, foolish,
ill, weak in the knees, unsure of our way, and wondering if we will ever reach
the end of our journey. We long
thirstily for good news, for hope to sustain us on our long trek to a place
where we will feel at peace. Isaiah and
Mary have joy because they said yes to the invitation to participate in God’s
vision of justice. Both call us again and again to reject the simple solutions
for a grittier just relationship with the world. It begins with you and me remembering to be
open to God’s action. We wait for
Justice and equality, for fairness, for healing, and for hope, we wait for God
to prepare a highway through the desert of our lives. Waiting is not simple, it isn’t happy, and it
is not what we want to do. But in this
season of Advent, we are called to wait and be open to God’s transforming
actions in this hurting world. May it bring
joy us all.
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