It is the start of May—Mary's Month. Back in December of 2018 I put up a post about the wide stream that runs through and around the property here. I didn't know what to call it, contrasting it with narrower or wider watercourses: stream, streamlet, brook, rivulet, rivoletto, runnel or rill? Then the other day, after a week of rain, I came upon this very much smaller stream of water running out of the hill which was saturated and overflowing. Here's the one minute video I made you might enjoy. Be sure your sound is on.
What a way to begin Mary's Month: Mary, who lived in obscurity. And I wonder if anyone has ever seen this stream before? Has anyone stopped to admire it or been seized inwardly by its simplicity and beauty? Does the stream know how it pleases me?
The rivulet is an overflow, as is the start of our great story: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (Luke 1:26). Then a very wonderful conversation follows about a holy child's conception. Upon the angel's departure Mary swings into action and goes off hurriedly, through the desert's ups and downs, twists and turns, (like human history and the history of our own lives) to share the happy news (as women do) with her elder relative, Elizabeth.
It's here that Mary overflows (stream-like) in her great, joyful poetic prayer we call the Magnificat. "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my savior...God who is mighty has gone great things for me..." Luke 1:39-56. In not a few ancient cultures, women, while working with each other, break into spontaneous songs. Did you ever compose or sing your own Magnificat? We talk a lot about mystery—the presence of God so close we might well miss it. Mightn't we be the people known for our own magnificats?
Look again at the one minute video. Observe everything: the bubbles, the reflected light, the tufts of grass that have found their way to the water, the bright moss, the water's descent, the placement of rocks, the sound of the water's movement. The rivulet is a kind of magnificat. The world needs people today who are good at singing their own Magnificats—listeners and wondering observers of presence and beauty, overflowing in trust and hope.
