“Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart”  Luke 2:19

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a joyous one.  Or even better, I pray you had at least one thing, hopefully many more, that warmed your heart and that you will think about for a long time.  Something for you to treasure, that wasn’t necessarily an earthly treasure.

That is what Mary is doing as she recounts the story of the birth of Jesus to Luke.  That is how Luke the Physician got at least some of his information that he used to write the account of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel that bears his name; by talking with Mary.  And as he listened to her Luke realized that more than just recounting details (in fact, Mary doesn’t do much of that—at least not in the way one might expect), Mary is treasuring and pondering in her heart those people, occasions, and events that meant the most to her.  In that sense, she was the first contemplative.

We hear that word “contemplative” and think of monks or nuns or mystics sitting in seclusion spending days, weeks, and months doing nothing but thinking about God, and experiencing the Divine through some encounter that defies explanation.  Yes, there have been, and are, some of those.  But far more common is the every day contemplative, who simply sets aside a bit of time to ponder in their heart whatever it is that God has put there.  That was Mary.  And hopefully, it is you and me.

The emphasis in traditional religious practices, especially in western culture, focuses on the external acts of worship and service and doing.  Or it is primarily concerned with ingesting information that serves the purpose of educating and fostering a wealth of knowledge ABOUT God.  That’s not what Mary does.  Nor is it the manner by which Luke records the story of the birth of Jesus. 

Mary is pondering in her heart.  The word is an interesting one in Greek—literally meaning to “throw around.”  Mary is “throwing around”, or perhaps even more descriptive, “tossing back and forth”, the events of the birth of Jesus.  She is creating space for God to reveal to her the meaning of all of this.  I can imagine her with a far off look in her eyes as she recounts the story to Luke. But even more important, I can see her taking time throughout her life, after the death, resurrection and ascension of her son (she was a witness to all of those), daily pondering what God was doing, as she was cleaning house, going to market, baking bread, or simply sitting in the early morning dawn of each day, pondering everything that had happened—both to Him and to her.

That is the beauty and the benefit of contemplating—pondering—as a spiritual practice.  It is not a matter of ingesting more information or getting a good education through bible study or online classes.  It is simply sitting quietly in stillness and serenity each day, or as we go about our life tasks, throwing around whatever it is that God seems to be putting in our hearts and doing in our lives and the lives of others.  That is pondering.  That is the means to spiritual growth.  That is the way of opening the door of our hearts to the working of The Spirit.  As Mary, the first contemplative did.