Mary the Mother of the Ordinary
Oftentimes the ordinary aspects of life get overlooked or ridiculed. Honestly, that makes sense, the ordinary is often sooo...boring. Give me the mountaintop experiences, the fire coming from the heavens, the spectacular There is a reason that most movies, books, video games, etc don’t deal with the ordinary. It’s boring and very few people want to spend money watching someone go through the daily habits of normal life. However, the reality is that for many of us, the majority of our days are spent in the midst of the ordinary.
And while occasional positive disruptions to the ordinary are welcome, when something life-changing in a negative way occurs-it is often the ordinary aspects that we miss. For instance, this is a minor example, but when I have a cold, I miss breathing without hindrance, I miss being able to taste my favorite pizza, I miss being able to walk around without feeling feverish-all small ordinary things that I usually take for granted when I am well.
It’s ok to enjoy the spectacular once-in-a-blue-moon event that comes into our lives. It’s ok to look forward to big days-graduations, weddings birthdays, seeing one’s favorite artist in concert, etc. But let’s not forget about the ordinary days that encompass the majority of our lives.
In the gospels, we don’t hear much about Mary. Her story is often confined to the extraordinary. And to be sure, that makes sense: the gospels each had specific messages they wanted to convey and they very rarely have time for the ordinary. Plus, again, an obsessive focus on the ordinary does not usually make for good storytelling.
But we can imagine that most of Mary’s life was filled with ordinary days. Sure, Mary had numerous miraculous experiences from being told she was pregnant to his birth and witnessing and hearing the miracles Jesus would perform. Except for one description of Jesus as a teenager in the temple talking with the elders and impressing people with his intelligence, the canonical gospels remain silent regarding his childhood and teenage years. One can imagine that the days were filled with the ordinary joys and sorrows of adulthood.
I imagine Mary being overwhelmed after the birth of Jesus, having to rely on the wisdom of her community to help her care and raise a newborn. I would venture to guess her early days were filled with the ordinariness of messy diaper clothes, a hungry baby, and sleepless nights.
It would not surprise me that Jesus as a toddler was as curious and rambunctious as any other child with a limitless energy that seemingly comes out of nowhere. I bet Mary struggled with Jesus in his teenage years as he sought to discover who he was and live into his identity as the son of God. I bet she held in her heart the moments when she began to gain glimpses of the man that he would become.
The ordinary is often described as banal and boring. But they encompass the majority of our lives. And we don’t always recognize the beauty in the ordinary until those moments are gone. I wonder, if as Jesus lay dying on the cross if Mary’s mind went back to the days when Jesus was nursing. Where yes he was probably biting and pinching her, but she could keep him safe.
I am sure her mind went back and thought of his first tentative steps toward her. Sure, she may have thought about Jesus’ miracles, hoping he would be able to somehow, magically get off the cross, but I can guarantee you that as it became clear that Jesus would not be escaping the cross, she thought about the little, ordinary moments that made up his life.
She held tight to the moments that she got to experience and that were just for her and Jesus to keep. The late-night talks about life, and God. The times when he fell and scraped his knee and she was the one there to comfort him.
The ordinary moments are the building blocks of our lives. Let us hold onto them and appreciate them while we can.
Image: white background and wheat stock. Text: The ordinary is often described as banal and boring. But they encompass the majority of our lives. And we don’t always recognize the beauty in the ordinary until those moments are gone