Louise Penny writes of a portrait that one of her fictional characters paints. It is of an old woman who looks out, bitterly, cynically and tired. It is a painting of the foul-mouthed, rude and irrepressible Ruth Zardo, a main character in the Three Pines books, and she is painted to be Mary, mother of Jesus, a more unlikely portrait of Mary to ever be made.
It makes sense to see Mary as a woman who will know the harshness of life. Anyone who has gone through Good Friday knows how incredibly hard life can be. It’s one thing to have the hopes and joys that new moms have, it’s quite another thing to sustain that confidence for the long haul. The flush of innocent hope, the excitement of justice restored and equality being proclaimed to all, would have been heady. No wonder Luke wrote her singing of the world being turned upside down. And no wonder this is the only speech Luke reported from Mary. She doesn’t make a speech at the foot of the cross, she doesn’t make a speech on Easter Sunday or Pentecost Sunday. No, she kicks off the birth narrative, and we never hear of her again.
Which is sad, when you think about it, because Mary understood Jesus better than his disciples, from this reading. Jesus wasn’t meant to be a candy-coated, sugary sweet elf on a shelf kind of figurehead. He was meant to be a real rebel, someone who would turn the power structures of his day upside down with his calls for justice in the name of a loving God who wants widows and orphans to be taken care of and treated with dignity and respect. Mary understood that. She understood God’s plan would mean afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. She knew that love of those who are weak and powerless is not easy. It’s more than collecting jellycats to fill an emotional vacuum, it’s more than trying to prove you love your family through expensive presents, it’s more than trying to decorate the house better than Martha Stewart or pack amazing activities into the winter holidays guaranteed to make the kids misty-eyed when they remember it in years to come. We often get love wrong despite our best efforts.
One United Church person had a habit of writing songs about getting love wrong. He was an active member of the same United Church all his life. In fact the first time he ever sang in public was when he was 5, and the Sunday School class performed “I’m a Little Teapot” for the church. That same church was where his funeral was held, far from the pomp and circumstance of many other famous Canadian musicians. In fact, if he wasn’t touring or playing in Massey Hall, he was usually found singing in their church choir on a Sunday morning. His songs of love were memorable, intense, poignant and often full of pain. He had numerous marriages and relationships, and several children by different womeMan, and sometimes those complex relationships ended up inspiring his music. Songs of heartbreak, anger, betrayal and also humbleness; one of his most famous songs talked about him being the hero but heroes often fail. He sings, “I don’t know where we went wrong but the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back.” Love was a complex mystery to him, relationships were hard and family dynamics were not straightforward. He was married three times altogether, but the last time seemed to work out finally. In fairness, he did a much better job loving Canada. When other Canadians moved to the United States to become famous, he moved back to Canada after only a few years in California. That didn’t stop his songwriting, nor his growing fame. His music was covered by all kinds of people: Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Barbra Streisand, and Johnny Cash to name a few. Even in his 80’s he performed across Canada. People remember him as being kind and humble and compassionate; he was so loved that there is a sculpture of him in his home in Orillia Ontario. He even was the celebrity captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991–1992. He was a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Country Music Hall of fame, and even had a Canadian stamp! CBC thinks he is the fifth best Canadian Song Writer, better than Bruce Cockburn but not quite as good as Leonard Cohen. He inspired countless young people to make music and keep loving our country. Some people said he was the first person that ever got them excited about Canadian history when he wrote songs about trains or shipwrecks. And when Gordon Lightfoot died, the legacy he left was one of love and respect.
Interesting that Lightfoot who knew first hand the challenges of love, never gave up on being a caring and kind person despite his personal heartbreak. Through all the ups and downs of grief and health issues, premature reports of his death, a stroke that had him having to learn to play guitar all over again, Gordon persisted in being humble and compassionate to the end.
I can imagine that Mary also persisted. Her vision of what the world needed was so crystal clear and compelling that it must have survived all the challenges of losing her beloved and gifted son. Maybe when Mary heard Luke ask her about her son, her soul again cried out with joy. The painting Louise Penny imagined of the old, embittered woman? She wrote that there’s a dot of white in Ruth’s eyes, the moment when her bitterness is transformed into hope. When she is reminded once again of her powerful vision and conviction and how they are turning the world towards justice. God is still at work, bringing change and love into the world. May we too feel our spirits sing as we remember God’s promise of justice to all!
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