Jenna Lindley
Luke 2:34-35 (KJV)

34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Reflection: 

In June, my father turned 70. So, as every daughter does, I made a documentary about his life in the style of Ken Burns. I went through family photo albums and memory boxes, compiling old pictures and letters. I interviewed family members, including his 94-year-old father. I was flabbergasted holding images of him as a newborn and hearing stories of him as a mischievous teen. My whole life, I have venerated my father considering him older and wiser. Making this documentary, however, I realized that to be old and wise, you first must be young and stupid.

If I was bewildered and out of sorts at imagining my dad’s youth, I cannot imagine the disbelief Mary felt as a mother being told she would outlive her son. Not only that she would outlive him, but he would be the Savior of humanity. The relationship between parent and child is built on a delicate power balance of nurturer and nurtured. When those norms are broken, it can feel off-putting and uncomfortable. Jesus never adores or praises his mother Mary in the Bible. The interactions he does have with Mary, for example, his first miracle of turning water into wine, he is arguably disrespectful. Regardless of any discomfort, Mary continues to follow and obey her son all the way to his death on the cross.

It is by living through faith, not fear, that we can lean into that discomfort and have a richer connection to the human experience and God’s will. Humanizing my father through the making of his documentary has helped me heal in many ways. Knowing someone had to clean up his messes as a child allows me to gracefully accept when he’s had to clean up mine. And although older and wiser, Mary too needed salvation, and despite the unconventionality of it all, what an incredible gift to get from her precious child.

Prayer:

God, please give me wisdom and strength to accept my relationships where they are and not where I want them to be. Help me see your will and to carry that out, regardless of any discomfort I may feel. Amen.