“Mary proceeds—as we must do in life—making her commitment without knowing much about what it will entail or where it will lead.”
—Kathleen Norris in Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (Riverhead Books, 1998), p. 77.
The heart of spiritual direction and the spiritual life indeed is responding to mystery, and certainly Mary is our icon for responding to something that is a mystery to her and all of us to this day. First of all, we must be open to the presence of a call to mystery. I have sometimes imagined other young women that Gabriel visited who responded to the angel by saying, “Let me think about it”; “Come back later”; “This is really not a good time for me to do this”; “No, definitely, not!” or “You must be kidding!” (Of course, I always must explain to my dear Catholic friends that this is just a mind trip, an exercise in my imagination.)
There is no question that our answers to the mystery will change us and our life forever. My experience is that we can learn to respond to the mystery first in small ways so that when a larger call to the mystery comes, we are ready. This is the practice of awareness and openness. We must also be open to going off—or at least temporarily abandoning—our agenda and listening to the interruptions in our life. The mystery is all around us, in every waking moment, in nature and in young children, in older adults, often those in need and poverty, and especially in our interruptions.
Taking time to be in silence or with others in need or going outdoors each day can expose us to the mystery of a world greater than ourselves. Spending time with young children can connect us to joy and love without conditions. Some of the most spiritual people I know are older men and women who know better than any of us how little control we have in our lives and have accepted it and made peace with it.
The people I sit with who come to our food pantry often talk about how blessed their lives are. They see blessings in every offering. I learn from them that “Let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) can be one of our best mantras.
Joanna joannaseibert.com