I wonder if Mary––

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“The Virgin’s name was Mary.” Luke 1:27

“And the angel said unto her, Fear Not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God.” Luke 1:30

 
 
If we could bring her back
For just a morning,
For a cup of coffee, a cranberry scone,
And the day’s headlines,
To really talk with us,
 
If she would have said
#metoo?
 
She’d remember things
Differently than we were taught
To believe.
 
She’d start off blaming
Herself.
Drunk as she was
On God’s wine that night–
Hearing how He favoured her
“Amongst all women,”
The scent of white lilies, and
Shining with the honey-sweet smile
And soft face
Of an angel.
 
“No, thank you,” or
“I don’t even know you,” or
“I’m in love with someone else.”
She could only accept Him–
All-powerful as He was, and she,
A frightened adolescent, in some ways,
Still a child, alone
In her room that stormy March eve.
She could not push Him off
Or His intentions away.
Predestined, as she was.
Chosen before the World was created,
So they said.
 
Who said that?
Who said I had no choice? She’d demand.
Even though she knew
It wasn’t worth knowing.
It would just make her angry, and this is way past.
Ancient, she’d say.
 
Oh Mary, we know you
Were not wearing tight jeans or smoking
Lucky Strikes on a corner off of Van Ness
or in a bar at midnight, Rue de la Seine.
And still it happened
To you too.
 
Had you known, Mary
That the so-called Lord has tried this
Tired line time and again,
That you were like other women,
All Women, I wonder,
If you would have still felt
Like you had to say yes?
 
I’d whisper the name
Satyavati as you sipped your coffee,
And tell you that in her case,
It was a boat, and “the Lord”
Sent a Sage to do His work.
He promised her she’d stay a virgin.
Sound familiar?
 
True story, Mary. When I was a child
Your statues were seen weeping blood
At my church. I think I know now why.
 
What if you asked the Lord
That night, in your own defense,
To slow down,
Not to be in such a hurry?
 
Maybe He’d have to change.
 
He’d have to say to you,
“Mary, I need you, but
We can’t be together in the way
The world would understand.”
 
Maybe you could have
Thought it over a little longer?
 
Or if you told him that
You’d really rather not
Get pregnant?
(You’d later recall your hidden
Admiration at the ecstasy of a Teresa–
Or a John.)
 
Their God, oh Mary, was no misogynist.
 
Mary, does this make us sinners? Are we sinners? I’d ask.
We didn’t listen to your story. To be honest, I’d say ashamedly,
We didn’t really think you had one.
Silent night
Could be a feminist hashtag, you’d say.
 
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
 
When He comes back,
Use your teeth. Kick. Yell. Scream
“Fire” (Since “Help” doesn’t seem to work.)
Do whatever you can.
 
And if He threatens
To abandon You
For good, to leave you with nothing,
To die alone, without child, and
Forgotten by the world
 
Dare Him.
__
Stephanie Van Hook is the Executive Director of the Metta Center for Nonviolence.
Slideshow image (“Triptych of the Nativity” by García del Barco) courtesy of Wikimedia.

5 thoughts on “I wonder if Mary––

  1. This is blasphemy. Your profane article is disgusting, an insult to all Christians everywhere who believe, with their gift of faith, in the Annunciation, Conception, and Birth of a Jew from the House of David -Jesus,, the Christ – awaited, expected – but never accepted by Jews as their Messiah. The inappropriate and erroneous literary technique that you have chosen here does not in any way explain nor justify your insult — to God (Yahweh) and to Christians.
    If a non-Jewish author were to blaspheme or to profane by any method the sacred tenets of the Jewish religion there would be an instant backlash followed by untold numbers of comments here in this space, and likely civil court action and talking heads cramming our media outlets.
    I would like to see Rabbi Michael Lerner’s reaction to this attack on Christian tenets. In his continuing efforts to preach and to spread the spirit of ecumenism and respect for all religions, I doubt that he would find this author’s suggestion palatable or justified by any arguments or clever verbiage.

    • Dear Alice,
      Thank you for sharing your voice and feelings. If it helps to know, I pray to Mary every day and repeat her name a significant number of times a day as part of my contemplative practice. This poem is the expression, actually, of what I feel is an expanded understanding of what it means to be in relationship to our spiritual figures, which includes the ability to question the stories handed down to us. Certainly, the moment we are in–to be specific, the awakening around women’s trauma– calls for this. One theme in the poem, for example, is story vs. experience–highlighted by the emphasis on John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila’s raptures of God consciousness–direct experience documented by them for us. We just don’t have that in Mary’s case. It doesn’t make her less significant. It makes her, in my heart/mind, even more interesting, wanting to know her even more. Faith is a gift, and faith and reason, faith and inquiry, are not at odds in our search for Truth. I have faith, for example, that Mary can handle it…Warmly, Stephanie

      • I agree, Stephanie. And I found your poem beautiful, painful, and moving, in a good way. I know Mary was a woman, a human. She became pregnant somehow. In my mind, probably not by God, Yahweh, or some mystical experience. Still, as the Mary we believe she is, I think she would easily understand the intent behind this poem, and rather than being angry, she might even be proud of your courage.

  2. This is a daring, strongly humane questioning of dogma. I believe it took great courage and knowledge by the poet that she would be harshly attacked for speaking her mind.
    Not unlike the criminality of most political systems, religious forces and institutions refuse to allow true questioning of their dogmatic clinging to absolute power.
    But I believe that as long as humanity survives their will be those who risk all to question absolute power and stubborn dogma.

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