Mary, Did You Know? A simple question…or is it? The answers to this repetitive question move me into a contemplative spirit each Advent season. The song lyrically reminds us of Jesus’ miracles, the gift of salvation and who God is. I ponder the magnitude of a baby boy that ‘came from Heaven where angels trod’ being born to a young human mother. One whom herself pondered all {these} things and kept them in her heart (Luke 2:19). The repetitive question of Mary, Did You Know? reminds us that in our human nature we often do not know; however, the unknown is the sacred space where our faith and trust hold tight in an Omniscient God who “knows” it all.
The song starts right out and asks, “Mary, did you know?”
Would she know her sins would be wiped white as snow?
The baby in her arms she looked down on with love.
Would she know that God’s spirit would descend as a dove?
If you were in the barn and knew of this birth,
What would you ask Mary, a question of worth?
Simple or complex, we can still ask away,
And ponder the God who came to save us Christmas Day.
Prayer: Dear Emmanuel, in this season of Advent, in our knowing and unknowing, in our ponderings and questions, in the space of trusting You who knows it all, let us be reminded of what we do know: that “Heaven’s perfect lamb” came to deliver us. Amen.
Elizabeth Smith