Yesterday as we stepped back in time at the Farmer’s Alliance store in Siler City to honor their 125 years of operation and the anniversary of Ms. Nancy Tysor’s 50th year as store manager, I had to realize there was a message in the stories we heard over and over at the store that meant something about that simpler time so long ago when we moved at a different pace and took time to listen to the world around us. As we shared stories of our past I realized it has almost been a full year since losing my mother to cancer and here we were once more fast approaching another Christmas where one event seemed to crash into the next. With each day that passes the intensity of the season increases until we find ourselves in a fevered pitch of headlong pursuit from one event to the next. To some it is the season of “Deja vu”; having felt we’ve been here before and already done that. Yes, once more in the season of Advent, we find ourselves hearing the familiar stories of the birth of Jesus and singing all the old familiar songs. Yet, every year there is another nuance, another twist in the story that strikes a different chord in each of us. This year for me, it has been the delivery of the message to Mary that she would become the mother of God’s only Son. In the first chapter of the gospel of Luke the scripture reads, “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”
Now I don’t know about you, but having an angel appear before me and speak to me I can safely say that I don’t
think the first thing I would think about is, “What kind of greeting,” he might be using to introduce himself. My thoughts would be more of the overwhelmed type, where I would be trying to cope with the magnitude of the situation and to see if I was awake or only dreaming. Yet, we are told that Mary was greatly troubled at his words and questioned the purpose of his being there. Could it have been that she didn’t realize this was an angel sent by God? How many of us would recognize an angel if one were to appear before us and begin delivering to us an important message? How many of us would be even be still long enough for an angel to even have a chance to visit with us? Our world has become so chaotic with the overload of messages, news and constant noise that there is little time to find a quiet corner and reflect on what it is we are doing here and what God has planned for us in this wonderful life we lead. It is said that we often entertain angels unaware and for most of us, this is probably truer than we would like to give credit since we undoubtedly have passed them without even taking the time to notice.
However, in the time of Mary, faith was on a different level than what most of us know today. In that time, one can only imagine there were far less distractions of the day, but beyond just the lack of noise there was the knowledge of God on a realm where visiting with an angel was not uncommon. Faith was a way of life, not an afterthought in one’s hectic schedule. Prayer and devotion were second only to survival. So when we find Mary in the presence of Gabriel, she is not overwhelmed with the event, she’s not blown away, “Oh My GOSH, there’s an ANGEL!!!” Instead, Mary takes it in as calmly and matter-of-factly as iif someone were telling her something which she really didn’t want to hear; and by the way, “Was he just greeting her with a friendly or demanding tone?” If we put ourselves in Mary’s shoes, we could quite easily see how she was troubled by what she heard. Imagine being told you were favored by God and for that, you would have a child, out of marriage, from a virgin birth and He would be the Son of God. Talk about knocking your socks off! Yet, even though the impact of the news was definitely life changing, it was the purest of faith that could accept this message and live with it. Anyone else would have either dismissed the message or been found as a disgrace to her family. Although troubled and curious about Gabriel’s delivery tone, Mary realizes when Gabriel says, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” that she has nothing to fear, for God will bless her.
I know in my own life the past two months have been a flash, going from one event to the next until I’ve found life becoming a blur. Yesterday while attending the 125th year anniversary of the Farmer’s Alliance store I once more felt and heard the voices of lives lived in a different time all come back and share with us now; it was as if we had been visited by an angel. The celebration made me realize how much we miss those days of sitting and sharing with one another, listening to our friends and neighbors tell us about their lives and living. The music combined with the mood allowed us to step back to a simpler place and time where faith was more of our lives, where one could talk as easily about a calf down as they could about the birth of Jesus, neither would be considered out of place.
You see, yesterday made me realize, the message was as clear as it was to Mary only the tone was left up to us to interpret.
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