Last Monday I commented on how Joseph got his life turned
upside down by Mary’s announcement of an unexpected pregnancy. Now today, we go to the actual event
itself. Again, Mary wasn’t
planning on this happening to her, either. She had to do some quick discerning, though. She even had the audacity to
question the angel. But would
anyone really turn down an angel that appears to them?
We can be grateful that for most of us who have felt a call
to religious life, we are given time, we don’t have to say an immediate
‘YES’! For me, it was more
of an immediate ‘NO’! Imagine
telling God, ‘NO’. But, that is
what I did. I suppose we will have
a good laugh together when we meet in eternity. Although, sometimes I think I hear God laughing even now…. I’m not the first person to tell God
‘no’. We have several examples
from scripture. Moses
is one of my favorites; he kept saying, “send someone else”, when God spoke to
him in the burning bush.
Convent life wasn’t in my plans. It’s a good thing God is patient. It took a year of wrestling back and forth with the idea of
being a sister before I finally gave in and hunted up a spiritual director to
help me. God has a way of
wearing you down even if you aren’t open originally to his plan.
The question has certainly been asked over the centuries -
what would have happened had Mary said, ‘No’? I wonder if God had a plan B just in case. Imagine if we had the kind of
relationship with God where we could say ‘yes’ pretty much instantly every time
we were given insight into what God is asking of us, no matter how difficult or
confusing it might seem to us.
Hmmm….maybe I should consider if there is anything I’m
saying ‘no’ to God about right now.
He’s going to win in the end anyway!
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