The Annunciation

It's so much easier to understand the wonder and fear of the Annunciation for Mary now that I've had a baby. I think women understand it more thoroughly than men, too (if I may be so bold!).

Her response was not of hysterical crying and anger at being thus "violated", but it was excitement and humility.

This story just also reminds us that our bodies are NOT our personal property, but are God's to do what he pleases with them. We are temples, and God, if we are willing, gives us precious gifts to bear to the world. Pregnancy itself reminds women and the world that their body is not their own. She shares it with her husband occasionally, of course, but she shares it for 10 months constantly with another. Everything she eats, drinks and does affects someone else in the most direct way for 10 months. It is a sacrifice, and a gift, and an amazing miracle.

May Mary's words be mine:

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,
For He hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaid;
For behold from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed (this is still true!),
For He that is mighty hath magnified me, and Holy is his name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him, throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm,
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He, remembering his mercies, hath holpen his servant Israel,
As he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed forever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.



~~ Erin

A Prayer at the Death of a Pet

By Edward Hays

Lord God,
To those who have never had a pet,
this prayer will sound strange,
but to You, Lord of all life and creator of all creatures,
it will be understandable.
My heart is heavy
as I face the loss in death of my beloved (name)
who was so much a part of my life.

This pet made my life more enjoyable
and gave me cause to laugh
and to find joy in his/her company.
I remember the fidelity and loyalty of this pet
and I will miss his/her being with me.
From him/her I learned many lessons,
such as the quality of naturalness
and the unembarrassed request for affection.
In caring for his/her daily needs,
I was taken up and out of my own self-needs
and thus learned to service another.

May the death of this creature of yours
remind me that death comes to all of us,
animal and human,
and that it is the natural passage for all life.
May (name) sleep on
in an eternal slumber in your Godly care
as all creation awaits the fullness of liberation. Amen

A Tree….. before the foundations of the world

He held in that day of beginnings the makings of a seed,
Made ready the sod with a tear-soaked smile
And watered the youth with the sweat of his hands
While breath mixed wind served life to its leaves

Innocent, wet with the sap of its birth
Flimsy and green its arms reach back in naïve praise
Its two branches enforced by three to hang great weights
His boughs made ready to bow to its cause

Its depth nursed of that same fruit it would bear
Always greeted by the Light, with a cloud,
Tenderly raised to great heights at the center of the world
Rising only to see the universe weeping on its shoulder

so...it begins!