Unexpected and Mysterious

​Unexpected and mysterious is the gentle word of grace.
Everloving and sustaining is the peace of God’s embrace.
If we falter in our courage and we doubt what we have known,
God is faithful to console us as a mother tends her own.
 
In a momentary meeting of eternity and time,
Mary learned that she would carry both the mortal and divine.
Then she learned of God’s compassion, of Elizabeth’s great joy,
And she ran to greet the woman who would recognize her boy.
 
We are called to ponder myst’ry and await the coming Christ,
To embody God’s compassion for each fragile human life. 
God is with us in our longing to bring healing to the earth,
While we watch with joy and wonder for the promised Savior’s birth.
 
                                                                  Jeannette Lindholm, ELW 258