Finding Harmony in Advent: Day 2

The angel Gabriel

Finding Harmony between divine and human

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. (Luke 1: 26-31)

The birth of a baby is commonplace.

Four babies (around the world) are born every second of the day (according to Yahoo Answers). 15,000 every hour. 360,000 every day. In the hospital where my newest grandson was born, there were 500 babies born last month, a dozen or so the day he was born.

The safe arrival of a new baby—from the womb to the world—is an event marked with flowers and calls and texts and posts on Facebook and birth certificates and DNA samples and newspaper notices.

Yet the birth of a baby is a miracle, too.

The odds of each particular baby—sperm uniting successfully with egg and growing 40 weeks to full term, surviving delivery, and belting out that welcome borning cry—makes each little baby a true miracle.

The announcement delivered by the angel Gabriel that Mary would have a baby boy (no sonogram needed here to find out the gender ahead of time) was in a class by itself: a human infant, a divine child.

The truly profound takeaway is that every child has a touch of the divine: we are created in the image of God. We are God’s children (whether or not we recognize or claim it or act like it). We can even become like Jesus: “little Christs” is one way to interpret the name “Christian” given to followers of Jesus (first mentioned by C.S. Lewis?).

We’ll encounter these divine messengers again towards the end of Advent, but for today, what message is God (through Gabriel or another messenger) speaking to you?

Perhaps that you, too, are a miracle, placed on earth for a divine reason? Can we see our children or other loved ones that way?

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For a lot of us, the angel Gabriel will forever be etched in our minds played by the late Lee Eshleman in “DoveTale.” Gabriel’s announcement can be viewed here.

The DVD is available from Ted & Company here.

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My photos each day in this series feature figures from a handmade advent calendar I picked up long ago at a yard sale. It quickly became the kids’ favorite, and a permanent addition to our Advent collection and celebrations. I hope you enjoy watching the parade of characters on this virtual advent calendar.