Advent Day 3: Greatly Troubled

In the Christian tradition, we get the story of Annunciation when Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear a child who will be the Son of God.
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This annunciation changed the course of Mary’s life. It changed the course of human history.
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And I think we’ve missed the weight of it. Behind the Hallmarkish sentimentality is a story that invites us into the nitty gritty of the human experience (and reminds us that God’s presence can, at times, feel like morning sickness).
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When Mary was greeted by the Angel, she was confused, she was scared, or as the text tells us, “greatly troubled.”
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(Wouldn’t you be greatly troubled?)
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But by the end of the encounter she was convinced. She was in on the plan. She was a joyful participant in the divine drama unfolding around her.
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This annunciation began in fear but ended in trust and excitement.
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Then she waited for the arrival of her son.
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In one sense, the annunciation to Mary belongs to us all, and the way she waited for her Son is the way we wait for him too.
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That’s at the core of what Advent is. Waiting for the arrival of a King who will make all things right. Waiting for the one who will put an end to oppression and injustice— finally and forever.
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But in another sense, this annunciation is an invitation into being “greatly troubled.”
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An invitation to unease at the state of the broken world around us. An invitation to hearing the plan of the divine. (A plan that might not line up to your plan as well as you might desire.)
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What if the divine spoke to you? What if the divine asked you to do something you thought was scary?
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Maybe the divine already has?
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What is the next step you know you need to take? What do you stand to lose by taking it?
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What freedom, wonder, and joy exist on the other side of that next step? What do you stand to lose by not taking it?
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There is blessedness in vulnerability. There is blessing that follows being “greatly troubled.”