March 26 – Ponder

It’s evening. I am home from my last meeting of the day. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and put in a load of laundry. I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down with journal, ready at last, to ponder the word for the day.

Luke’s gospel tells a tender story of Jesus’ mother, Mary. He tells us that when Mary delivered her child in an unfamiliar and inhospitable place, and shepherds from the fields came to her to see her child and tell her about the angels – the angels who told them the good news of great joy, and that the child would be a sign of this good news of great joy – then Mary, a woman who had just given birth for the first time, Mary holding her newborn infant, listened. And she just treasured it all and pondered it in her heart.

And later, when Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to the temple, and they were approached by Simeon – Simeon spoke directly to Mary with words of hard truth about how life would be for her son, and for her, as his mother. Then Mary and Joseph took the child into the temple to complete their sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.

And years later, when they were in Jerusalem again and lost the boy Jesus and it was three days before they found him again – and how strange it was when they found him conversing with the teachers. Then Mary just added it to the store of things she was treasuring, pondering, in her heart.

Some days there are no answers. There is no analysis. Some days are for just taking in the gifts that are presented to you, dwelling in the mystery of them. Treasuring and pondering them, and giving thanks.