Seeker

Image by He Qi I'm thinking a lot about Mary the mother of Jesus at the moment. It must have something to do with Christmas. In this blog, I wrote about Mary's reaction to the message she received from the angel Gabriel in 'How Can This Be?' and 'Pondering an Announcement' .  This December I've pondered Mary as 'Hope-Bearer' and wrote on this as a #digidisciple at The Big Bible Project.  This post was first published as 'Hope-Bearer' on 14 December 2011 at The BIGBible Project   as the 3rd of my monthly series 'Blogging Women of the Gospels'. Here is what I wrote: What is your picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus? When I was a child, Mary of Nazareth was the coveted role in the nativity play – the only decent role for a girl who enjoyed playing with dolls and dressing up like a grown-up. Then, when I was about 14 or 15, I learned that when Mary was pregnant with Jesus she was probably about my age. I began to see how difficult...

It's the Feast of the Annunication, so here's an artist's interpretation of the visit of the angel Gabriel to a young girl called Mary. I like this painting by Henry Tanner. Mary seems to be listening attentively but not yet saying 'yes' - perhaps she's at the stage of asking the question 'how can this be...?'  I love the way the angel is indicated by light which is also reflected in Mary's face and the covers of her unmade bed. Will she say yes? Collect for Today: "We beseech you, O Lord,   pour your grace into our hearts,   that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ   by the message of an angel,   so by his cross and passion we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection;   through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,   who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,   one God, now and for ever. Amen."