Merry Marymas?
   The story (legend) is told that on September 8, about 430 A.D., a man in Angers, France, had a vision. The vision was of a celebration in heaven. The angels were singing and rejoicing, their hearts were filled with happiness and joy. Upon seeing such a celebration, the man asked what the celebration was about.   The answer came from an angel, and the message was that they were celebrating Mary’s birthday, that she was born on the night of September 8.
    For Catholics and some Protestants this has become a feast day. Today, September 8, is celebrated as the day that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was born.
    We’re not exchanging gifts or having a party at my “Blessed Assurance-singing-Baptist” household today for Marymas, but this morning I have been considering Mary. Normally Baptists give a little more thought to Mary closer to Christmas, on that fourth Sunday of Advent when we tell her story. The Visitation by the Angel, the Annunciation, the visit with Elizabeth, the Magnificat, and the birth of Jesus. We consider this at Christmas, but September is not the time I normally think of Mary.
    Today I think of Mary’s life, her life before the Angelic Visit, and her life after. I consider that her life is, in a way, divided into two parts, life before the angel, and life after the angel. And those two parts hinge on one simple word. Yes. Mary was willing to say yes to the Angel, yes to God, and because of that “yes” her life, and our lives, are forever changed. Because of her yes.
    God still gives us chances to say yes to participate in God’s work in the world. Yes to being agents of peace and justice, agents of reconciliation and compassion. We can say yes to being light in dark places. And we can say yes for our life together to be a foretaste of what it will look like when “God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is already in heaven.”
    Say yes to God today. May that be our first response when a messenger comes and tells us that God is at work.