Sunday, December 27

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
—Luke 2:19

Who has not had something happen to them that they wanted to keep to themselves? It might be that you and your wife are expecting, and as happy as you are, you want to keep it to yourselves for awhile. It might be that you've been offered a new job, and though you are excited, you want to savor it for a bit. 

It might be that you've gotten bad test results from your doctor, and you're not ready for others to know. It might be that you are trying to understand something in your life, and you want to hold it in until you come to clarity. Sometimes we just feel a need to keep something close, like a precious treasure, until we are ready to share it with others.

Mary had experienced wondrous things—things that were difficult to describe to others—and she seemed to need time to make sense of them herself before she let loose of them and shared with her friends and family. She needed to carry them inside, just as she had carried Jesus in her womb, until the time was right to offer them to others.

During the time that she carried them, she had the chance to reflect, ponder, search their meaning, ask for clarity, feel the fullness of having them still within her. There's no reason to tell everything that is inside us, until we know that we are ready to do so. In the quiet of our own soul, we can begin to unravel the tangles, sort out the questions, and find in the silence the clarity that we seek.

Gracious God, let my soul be the vessel for holding the big things in life, until they are ready to be shared.