Mary,

You and I don’t talk too much,
It’s a Protestant thing, you see,
But I thought I’d let you know
That I really do admire you.
Those serene paintings,
Haloed portraits of you and Christ--
They don’t even begin to do you justice.
Because even as you said
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord!
Let it be to me according to your word,”
You were terrified. I know you were.
A pregnant, unwed, small town girl
Doesn’t go unnoticed for long,
And you well knew the price
Of such a situation.

Were you relieved that Joseph
Planned a quiet divorce?
He could have humiliated you.
Were you grateful for such a small mercy?
What joy must have filled you when he believed!
What answered prayers you must have claimed!
How deep your love for him must have been,
As he became your protector, and aid
In God’s unknowable plan.
Did the journey to Bethlehem worry you?
Did you ache when inns turned you away?
How strong you must have been
That night, delivering the Deliverer
As Joseph must have wondered what to do.
And a star shone bright above.

Had ever before a teenage mother
Received guests in a stable?
And what guests! Bewildered shepherds
Babbling about angelic beings
Breaking Heaven’s silence,
Promising a savior;
A savior so long awaited.
How you must have wondered
At the temple when Simeon prayed,
“Lord, let now your servant depart
In peace, according to your word,
For my eyes have seen your salvation.”
And, Mary, how your own soul
Must have shrunk as he turned
And said, “Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”
And what chill must have filled you with
“A sword will pierce through your own soul, also.”

Did you begin to understand
When the wisemen came?
Or when you fled to Egypt,
Salvation from the land
Your people once left.
Or perhaps you couldn’t know;
Perhaps Joseph couldn't, either.
But your son must have seemed strange,
Not distant, certainly not bad,
But historically, God has not
Made good company for mankind.
Like Hannah with Samuel,
I’m sure you already knew
You would lose him, though
I doubt you ever knew how.
Yet even as you longed
For a normal life, like your friends,
You were mother to the Messiah
And treasured it in your heart.

And for that, I do admire.