Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
[Judges 13:2-7, 24-25A and Luke 1:5-25]Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.
The scientific word, "infertile," does not command the same range of meaning as the traditional biblical word, "barren." The latter carries a greater imaginative impact. "Infertile" seems to mean a condition that can be treated. "Barrenness" seems to carry with it all the desert meaning - emotional, spiritual, physical - that such a state has meant to married couples, especially to women from time immemorial. The mother of Sampson (we're never told her name) was chosen to bear a special biblical hero! The mother of John the Baptist received the same favor. Not only is a great person conceived but the mother is relieved of the humiliation that barrenness caused. Advent seems to be the time that the church celebrates all the unlikely births in the bible! I suppose there should be no surprise about that since Jesus' birth was humanly unlikely! If our faith enables us to accept God's power over creation, then we should be willing to give up our notions of what is unlikely, at least to the extent that God is concerned! The other "unlikely births" should alert us to the possibility of further ones. At least the idea is planted and awaits a particular manifestation. In this season, that manifestation is particularly celebrated in the birth of Christ! As Gabriel says in regard to Elizabeth, "For nothing is impossible with God." You better believe it! AMEN
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