Magnificat Wonder

Luke 1:46-55

“I wonder as I wander out under the sky,” says the Christmas carol.

I wonder a lot these days about Mary’s Magnificat.

I wonder: What was Mary feeling and thinking on her 4-5 day journey to visit her relative Elizabeth? I recently talked to our resident songwriters, Rob and Eshinee, about this. Rob mused that perhaps Mary was trying to convince herself that she really could fulfill her declaration to the angel, “May it be to me as you have said.” Her own faith was being strengthened as she prayed her prayer. That seems plausible to me.

I also wonder: Throughout her trek, was she ruminating about the story of barren Hannah (see 1 Sam. 1:1-2:11), who rejoiced in the child God miraculously gave her? Was the prayer of Hannah the seed that germinated to become Mary’s prayer, which contains very similar language?

I wonder a lot about the Magnificat.

I wonder: Was Mary’s exuberant exclamation to Elizabeth spontaneous, an on-the-spot Magnificat? Or was it a psalm that Mary thoughtfully wrote on her way to the hill country? Perhaps both.

I also wonder: Did Mary’s spoken psalm at some point become a song that she sang? Maybe she and Elizabeth wrote the song together during Mary’s three month visit. Eshinee recounted how her memorization of John Chapter 4 about the woman at the well began to bubble out as a song. Maybe Mary and Eshinee were sharing a melodic sisterhood over the centuries.

Yes, I wonder a lot about the Magnificat!

I wonder: If Mary’s psalm did indeed turn into a song, is it a song that she sang around the house with her growing boy Jesus within earshot? Was it a song she sang aloud as she walked to the market, or did she just hum it softly when outside, so no one would hear the revolutionary part about bringing down rulers from their thrones?

My wondering can take me even further down the road of Mary’s life, to her awful moments standing near the cross of her dying son. Even there, even then, perhaps a lifelong song helped her believe that God had indeed “helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

I wonder as I wander out under the Advent sky.

I wonder about Mary and her song.

And my wondering turns into wonder in a deeper sense of the word, and I find myself joining Jesus’ mother and saying: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

Under the Advent sky, I marvel at Mary and this, her most wonderful prayer.