Luke
1:46b-55
And
Mary said,
“My
soul magnifies God, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, who has looked
with favor on my lowliness. Surely, from now on all generations will call me
blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God’s
name. God’s mercy is for those who give respect from generation to generation.
God has shown strength and scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.
God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. God
has helped Israel by offering mercy, according to promises made to our
ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever.”
Yes, we are back to the Mary text--the so-called, "Magnificat." I am drawn to this text more than any other part of the Christmas story because of the revolutionary words. In this birth, God has "brought down the powerful" and "lifted up the lowly."
I was reminded of this text when I heard the Sting song, "Dance Alone" played over the sound system of a store. Listen HERE
Perhaps you know the background for this song. Sting is referring to women who dance a two-person Cueca alone.
Two-person Cueca:
Here is an explanation from Emilia Aguilera:
Perhaps you know the background for this song. Sting is referring to women who dance a two-person Cueca alone.
Two-person Cueca:
Here is an explanation from Emilia Aguilera:
The Widow Cueca:
Year after year a woman is dancing cueca, the Chile’s national dance . . . however she does it alone, dressed in severe black without that usual smile
that accompanies this dance.
They have a picture or photo of a husband, lover, son, brother, or father that has gone missing. They are wives, mothers, and sisters of those who
can no longer accompany them in the “pie de cueca” (how is called a piece of
this dance) because they were arrested during the Augusto Pinochet’s
dictatorship (since 1973 until 1990), and decades later, they are still waiting for an
answer about the whereabouts of their loved ones, at least, to mourn in peace. However, and shamefully, in my country still gives no or much less a
decent answer.
Still in Chile the cueca dancing just with the company of a white
handkerchief and a portrait of who should be accompanying this stomping.
National Day of the Disappeared Detainees
Santiago de Chile, August 2011
by Emilia Aguilera
The "Widow Cueca:"
Rather than the beatific and beautifully renditions of the Magnificat, I sometimes wonder whether it might be sung as a heart-wrenching version:
To end this reflection on a gentler note, here is poet Joy Cowley's "Modern Magnificat:"
My soul sings in gratitude.
I’m dancing
in the mystery of God.
The light of
the Holy One is within me
and I am
blessed, so truly blessed.
This goes
deeper than human thinking.
I am filled
with awe
at Love
whose only condition
is to be
received.
The gift is
not for the proud,
for they
have no room for it.
The strong
and self-sufficient ones
don’t have
this awareness.
But those
who know their emptiness
can rejoice
in Love’s fullness.
It’s the
Love that we are made for,
the reason
for our being.
It fills our
inmost heart space
and brings
to birth in us, the Holy One.
Our Advent Exploration question for today is: How do you hear the words of Mary?
Our Advent Exploration question for today is: How do you hear the words of Mary?
