Lent: Mary, receptivity with presence
Monday 4 April 2011
At the still point of the turning world, neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.
T S Eliot, Burnt Norton
![Fra Angelico, Annunciation]()
Fra Angelico, Annunciation
You see before you the Lord’s servant. Let if happen to me as you have said. Luke 1:38
A timeless moment
During a long meditation on the Annunciation several years ago, I was struck by the stillness, the timelessness of this encounter. The painting of this scene by Fra Angelico (above) in its highly stylised way, captures something of this.
Mary does not flee at this alarming and unexpected intrusion into her day. With remarkable presence, she remains quietly in the remarkable presence of an angel. Their meeting is timeless: in fact I experience it as being outside of time. And yet Mary receives the moment as it is and keeps it real: “But how? I’ve never slept with a man”.
In suburbia
I also love the painting 'The Annunciation’ by contemporary American artist John Collier. It’s such a refreshing take on the scene, setting it in a contemporary, suburban context. It helpfully demythologises it. Mary, an unexceptional girl is going about her day, meets an angel and receives the moment as it is. The excitement, the ecstasy of the Magnificat, the pain can come later. Right now, I’m right here. With an angel. Receptivity with presence.
Gus MacLeod
To continue with John, read 6:1-15