Mary's song, The Magnficat, is recorded in the Gospel According to Luke. In it, Mary sings about politics and economics, the dangers of unchecked power and the foolishness of false pride, and what it means for persons and nations to eschew the common good.
Mary sings of the outstretched arm of a Holy God who is effecting a great reversal in the world: the proud are scattered, the mighty brought low, the lowly raised up, the rich sent away empty and the hungry filled.
Mary sings the world forward, toward a global community of justice and compassion. There is no threat here, no self-righteousness, no gloating in her song. There is merely statement.
Life was created to work a certain way: with justice, in humility, looking to the needs of others. In our arrogance and love of power and things, we try to work it another way.
Hate kills life. Love stirs life. Holding grudges imprisons life. Forgiveness releases it. Criticism cripples life. Encouragement nurtures it. False pride cheapens life. Humility deepens it. Hoarding divides life. Sharing multiplies life.
When all is said and done, this is the way that will prevail — the way of love, forgiveness, encouragement, humility and sharing.
After Jesus is born, Mary will nurse and nurture her little boy. And when the moments are right, this is the song she will teach her son, the song she sang to him while he was yet in her womb.
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