A Christmas meditation

Here is a Christmas mediation, and the subject is the Blessed Virgin Mary. I thought of this analogy for those who are somewhat estranged in their understanding of her, especially those who do not understand the Catholic (and, incidentally Muslim) perspective of her. I thought of an analogy to help understand her and more importantly, God’s perspective of her.



Suppose that you find yourself having to cross, on foot, a hot and dry desert, and you have no supplies. You’ve walked as far as you can without water, and find, to your joy, an oasis with sparkling clear water. You drink your fill, but you are now faced with a stark reality. You have nothing with you to carry some of the water from the spring, and you know that you have far more distance to go, farther than you could possibly last without water. You pray to God asking for help, and you hear him answer. He tells you to look in a nearby small indentation in the rocks. You look and to your joy, there are two large ewers, and while they are large and heavy, you know that you can manage to carry one.

The first ewer is made out of some sort of metal; you do not know what kind. When you remove the lid you find it is already filled. It is packed to the top with an oily ointment that is some type of heavy perfume, or perhaps a medicine. You realize to your dismay that even if you could empty it out, in order to fill with water, that residue of both the metal and the remaining ointment would contaminate your water and perhaps cause you great harm. With a rapidly beating heart and great concern, you turn to the second ewer. You find to your joy it is completely different. It is a pure and empty ewer made completely of clean and transparent heavy glass. You select that ewer, take it to the spring, fill it with the life giving water, and are able to go safely on your way across the desert.