Incubating the Improbable

My post on the Feast of the Visitation is up at the Living Lutheran site.  Those of us who grew up in Lutheran churches of the past may not know about this holiday.  Even my Catholic friends often don't celebrate feast days.

But the more I learn about feast days, the more I yearn for what they promise:  an enriching of our spiritual lives, a way to have more festival times, a way to be inspired, a way to learn about important heroes of the faith who might be otherwise lost to us.

Now, the Feast of the Visitation doesn't celebrate the lives of people lost to us.  Anyone who has paid attention during Advent knows about the lives of Mary, mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, mother of John.  They were cousins, and unexpectedly, improbably pregnant.  During their time of getting ready, they spent time together.

My post explores the implications of this feast day.  Here are some quotes to whet your appetite:

"I love this story of new life being held in unlikely wombs. I love this message that biology is not destiny, that our bodies can do all sorts of wondrous things, like heal, generate new life, and nourish what we previously thought to be impossible."

"Never far from my mind are the issues of discernment, call and retreat. God calls both Mary and Elizabeth, and both say yes to a radical change of direction to what they might have planned. And it's a change that will have an impact on the rest of their lives, not just a year or two. What a great idea: to take some time away from regular life to support each other and to prepare."