Have You Heard the News?
Joe Killian • December 18, 2015
“I have to share this with you!” That’s how I felt when I watched the video. Sharing videos and photos is second nature to us today. We are able to “connect” with those we know and love in an instant. Technology allows us to share with potential multitudes of people we don’t even know! Of course that hasn’t always been the case. Can you even imagine what it must have been like for Mary and Elizabeth? In this week’s Gospel we are reminded of the old fashioned way of connecting:
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:39-45
Mary immediately travels to Elizabeth's home in response to the angel Gabriel’s good news. Surely Mary wondered about these miracles as she journeyed. But Mary has to wait to confirm Gabriel’s message. Imagine the moment! Notice how Luke explains the encounter. At six months Elizabeth's pregnancy is visible. And yet Luke shifts the attention from Elizabeth’s good news to Mary’s Good News!!!
In an ancient way we hear of people connecting about their good news. Mary and Elizabeth’s connection occurs on a much deeper level. So much so that even Elizabeth’s unborn son responds to the Good News of his cousin’s arrival. This Good News changes the world, today just as it did 2000 years ago.
In the spirit of my message this week I do have a video I'd like to share with you. I am a big fan of Jeff Cavins. I have been receiving his Advent videos for the last couple of weeks. When I watched this week's video I thought, "I have to share this with you!" Jeff provides a wonderful explanation of just how profound the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth really was. Please take the time to listen to Jeff as he connects old and new in an enlightening way.
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
