Beautiful inside and out
Photo taken by Rev. Min-Goo Kang
Text: Luke 1:26-38
Where have you found beauty recently? It’s part of the human nature that we seek something beautiful. The Irish poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue said, “we feel most alive in the presence of what is beautiful”. So, let me ask you again, when did you feel most alive recently? I usually go for a walk right before the sunset. I set aside this time of the day to do nothing but enjoy the beauty in nature. I find myself immersed in the dimming light that soon turns into darkness. At first, I was afraid of running into wildlife like deer and possibly their predators. But the moonlight and its reflection on the snow washed away my fear, shedding light on my way.
Recently I was fascinated by the generosity of the moon. Its bright and mysterious light touched my heart so deeply that I felt held, secured, connected, and that I belonged. The moon has a special place in my heart. I remember driving on an icy road not long after coming to Winnipeg. As I turned left at the busy intersection, I knew immediately I was in danger. I helplessly watched the zigzag movement my car was making. Thankfully, there were no other cars around. But I could literally hear my heart pumping. Then I felt the moonlight soaking into my body. The generous moonlight assured me that I was not alone. It continued to guide my way with a sense of protection and safety. Every time I see the moonlight, I remember how I was saved on that evening on that icy road. We not only need beauty. It can also save us.
The invitation for us is to find beauty in the familiar things or familiar stories – so familiar that we don’t recognize the beauty. The challenge of hearing a well-known story like the one we heard today is that we think we know it even before we hear it.
I invite you to put away all the things you think you know about the story, or any images that you might have seen in the films about the Nativity, or on Christmas cards or in our hymns and carols. Instead, listen to the story as if you’re hearing it for the first time. I will read a portion of the story in a different translation, the Message:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
Mary, you have nothing to fear.
God has a surprise for you.
You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
What did you notice? What do you wonder about? I noticed the warm, loving, inviting, and unwavering tone in the angel’s words. And I wonder how Mary felt deep inside her body as she was receiving the message. I used to think that the angel’s visit to Mary was cruel and intense. That’s partly because some of the movies I watched show the scene as one-way communication. The masculine archangel had power over the betrothed girl leaving her no choice. The shocking news put Mary in danger – she could have been stoned to death by committing adultery, or at best she could have raised a fatherless child in the already violent and uncertain world under the Roman empire. With a patriarchal lens, both authors and interpreters alike have described Mary as someone who is obedient, humble, and faithful – the ideal image of a believer the church has praised over the millenniums. I wonder if we have been avoiding the most important aspect of the incarnation, love; God’s love for us is so strong that it must enter the human body, Mary’s womb.
I am beginning to read the annunciation as one of the most romantic love stories. It reminds me of the love song in the Song of Solomon, which explores love as the most intimate, life-giving, mutual, and passionate life force:
Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely.
(The Song of Solomon 1:15,16)
If we feel most alive in the presence of beauty, we can say that God chooses the human body as her dwelling place because it makes God’s love most alive. Nowhere is safer to grow than in the womb. Nothing is more intimate or stronger than the connection between the mother and her baby inside of her body. The human body contains God’s desire and passion for the world. God wants to bless the whole creation with our bodies. The ordinary young woman becomes pregnant with God’s Child. That reminds us that each of us also carries the child of God or the seed of God in us, that will bear the fruit of hope, peace, joy, love, and kindness. We can love and nurture the child by embracing ourselves, especially our fragile yet beautiful bodies. The divine wooing touches Mary’s heart and she says yes. It is Mary’s participation that makes the love mutual and complete. Mary’s yes, “let it be with me” is a way of proclaiming her self-love. In a world where we put more value on certain bodies based on their skin colours, shapes, abilities, Mary’s example shows how evolutionary a self-love can be. It’s so radical that it can dismantle the hierarchical system and bring forth justice and equity to our communities. Nothing is impossible with radical self-love because that’s how God enters the world.
It’s part of the human nature that we seek what is beautiful. We don’t need to go anywhere but to be here. For, God’s love comes most alive through our bodies. However fragile, imperfect, and aching they may seem to us, our bodies still bear the blessings of God. We are beautiful with God’s beauty, beautiful inside and out!