A Whole New World of Questions

The philosopher Susanne Langer said, “If we would have new knowledge, we must get us a whole world of new questions.” This insight certainly applied to our desire to know more about God, and with the birth of Jesus, new questions arise within us. Why did God choose a young peasant woman to be the mother of his son? Why was he born in a stable, of all places? Why were shepherds the first to be told about his birth?

These circumstances give us new knowledge about God:

1.     To further his plans, God uses those who are unlikely and overlooked, such as Mary, who had no status in her society because she was young, a woman, and a peasant. As Susan Quaintance, OSB, notes, “No one is paying attention. And that is God’s secret weapon…. I am called to trust that when Love is born in the world, it is through tiny openings, against impossible odds, with nothing but grace to cling to.”

2.     God wanted to be poor at birth and thus was born in the humblest of circumstances. Catherine Doherty observes, “He came into the world stark naked, as every child of woman comes froth from the womb. God loved poverty unto nakedness. This means that he made a total surrender, a total commitment to love. It had to be this way, if it were ever to lead to His Resurrection, and to ours. Don’t you think so?”

3.     Shepherds were observant by nature; they had to be, to protect their sheep. Therefore, the glory of the birth of Emmanuel was first revealed to people who were awake and paying attention.

Our questions, then, lead us to appreciate and trust in tiny openings and grace. They lead us to understand the importance of the total commitment to love that is represented by the life of poverty that is chosen by God. They affirm the importance of staying awake and paying attention in our own lives.

Like Mary, we ask questions, and as we ponder them in our hearts, they lead us closer to an understanding of the workings of God’s own heart.