December 12, by Rebecca Langer

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.


Take a few minutes just to notice this painting by Tanner. What stands out to you? It’s one of my favorite annunciation paintings. (You can see a better view if you Google the words, Tanner, Philadelphia Museum of Art) I suspect that before Mary could speak these words, she said something like,” O, my goodness what’s happening to me”? Mary would have known this Psalm. Might she have found comfort and strength and the determination to step into God’s burden for her from that first verse? What I most admire about Mary is that she seems to be able to match her longing to be a humble servant of God and allow God to use her as God willed. I have no doubt that each of us is also longing to serve God. Like Mary we may be frightened, at first, but as we gradually submit ourselves to God’s nudging and tender care, we can echo with Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior”. May it be so for us this Advent season.

Prayer:
God of all longings, come and fill our hearts with your presence in this season of longing. Help others to know your love through our tenderness and love. We desire to be your faithful servants and know that you will help our feeble attempts. May we sift through all the desires of our hearts and find there the wisdom and will to let you be born in us today.

Rebecca Bradburn Langer is Parish Associate for Spirituality and Global Mission at Riverside Presbyterian Church. She loves art and has taught a segment of a course at San Francisco Theological Seminary entitled “Art and Spirituality” and finds art museums like good sermons, feed her soul. Her free time has dwindled quite a bit in the last few months but she enjoys spending it with her husband, Jim, and her children and grandchildren. She also longs to be a better Yoga student.