| There’s a good chance that you’re reading this in an airport, from the passenger’s seat of a car, or amidst piles of laundry awaiting their placement into suitcases. It’s a time of trip-taking, which can be equal parts delightful and downright disruptive.
In The Invitation of the Incarnation, Rasool Berry notes that the inconvenience of travel has been woven into the Christmas story from the very beginning.
“Mary’s journey from Nazareth to the hills of Judea was neither easy nor safe,” Berry writes. “Still, emboldened by her faith but also in need of support, Mary braved the trek pregnant, poor, and probably perplexed.”
Trusting in the words of the angel Gabriel, Mary chose to travel as an unexpectedly pregnant woman whose life had been turned upside-down. The destination of her journey, Berry explains, was of utmost importance: Mary went to see Elizabeth, her relative who was also expecting a child.
Berry writes, “The Incarnation meant a major interruption in Mary’s life; it was wonderful, yes, but it was also weighty … So she turned to faithful Elizabeth. We can only imagine how strengthening it was for Mary to hear Elizabeth’s words of blessing. In fact, I’d argue that we would not have Mary’s Magnificat without Elizabeth’s Encouragement.”
Whether we are traveling this Christmas, our homes are the destination for others, or we are navigating this season without much disruption at all, may we remember the example of Mary and Elizabeth. When the unexpected struck, they turned to each other. As Berry writes, “The Incarnation is an interruption and an invitation to know ‘God with us’ and also to embrace ‘us with us.’” |
