Submitted by:
Debra Auger, Dean of Students
North Park Theological Seminary

A new church year commenced three weeks ago when we lit the first advent candle. Now we are just days away from celebrating the incarnation of God in Christ…the coming of God to humanity, enfleshed as an infant. Here is where power is perfected in ultimate weakness: that of a child completely and totally dependent on mother for care, protection, food and safety. It really is an astounding thing. Perhaps most astounding is that God limited God’s self to a human body in a particular time and culture to demonstrate what true love looks like. Equally astounding is the limitation of God to the womb of a young girl to be formed and nurtured and parented. In this Advent season perhaps we can imagine Mary as an archetype for all those who are called by God to nurture embryonic faith in others. God calls young and old, women and men alike, to “bear God” in a world desperate for love. In this advent season let us remember to celebrate the burgeoning ministry of young women who are faithful to bear the love of God and who have responded, as Mary did, to God’s call to serve.

“O thou who bears the pain of the whole earth, I bore thee.
O thou whose tears give human tears their worth, I laughed with thee.
Thou who, when thy hem is touched, give power, I nourished thee.
Who turns the day to night in this dark hour, Dayspring for me.
O thou who held the world in thy embrace, I dandled thee.
Whose arms encircle all with thy grace, I once held thee.
O thou who laughed and ate and walked the shore, I played with thee.
And I who with all others, thou died for, I now hold thee.”
(Madeleine L’Engle, The Irrational Season, 9).

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