{"id":11300,"date":"2015-03-29T14:44:12","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T18:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=11300"},"modified":"2015-03-29T14:46:28","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T18:46:28","slug":"learning-fellowship-from-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2015\/03\/learning-fellowship-from-mary.html","title":{"rendered":"Learning Fellowship from Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Wikimedia<\/a>
Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Before I picked up Denise Bossert\u2019s\u00a0Gifts of the Visitation: Nine Spiritual Encounters with Mary and Elizabeth<\/em><\/a>, I had run into a very\u00a0short meditation on Mary\u2019s visit to Elizabeth on a friend\u2019s tumblr<\/a>.<\/p>\n

the first christian and the first person to make a declaration of christian faith<\/p>\n

the visitation is so important. 2 pregnant women, caring for each other, prophesying, acting radically on their faith in god\u2019s power and intention to lift up the lowly, knowing their sons will do incredible things while probably apprehensive about the danger they would face, and meanwhile the only dude around is mute<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bossert\u2019s series of reflections uses the Visitation to bring Mary\u2019s virtues into focus, and, in her consideration of each one, she explores where this strength expressed itself elsewhere in Mary\u2019s life and where Bossert herself succeeds and struggles to allow space for these gifts in her own life.<\/p>\n

There were virtues I expected to see listed (humility, readiness, etc), but what I found most striking was Bossert\u2019s choice to explore these aspects of Mary as she expressed them\u00a0before<\/em> the birth of Christ, when, during what I might have thought of a period of waiting, Mary was already in motion, sharing love with Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

When I might be running \u201cWhen Will My Life Begin?\u201d<\/a> again in my head, I could stand to look over this passage from Bossert\u2019s book:<\/p>\n

Is it time to take a look around you and see who needs some practical assistance? \u00a0Who needs a little help just to get through the day? \u00a0Can you become Mary to another Elizabeth? \u00a0Perhaps you have overlooked someone because you tend to see someone from your own perspective and are caught in a trap of elevating yourself and your own position as a Christ-bearer. \u00a0Is there someone who is not seen by the crowds, but who is far greater than you in this mission to share Christ? \u00a0Can you receive that one with hospitality even as Elizabeth recieved Mary into her home?<\/p>\n

If hospitality is not a gift you possess on a natural level, are you open to receiving supernatural help in this area?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m working on developing my hospitality reflexes (what Capon would call my capacity to be a \u201cfat mother\u201d)<\/a>, and Bossert\u2019s book is a reminder that I don\u2019t need to wind up at the center of the activity when I\u2019m trying to offer my home to others. \u00a0And that spending time with others isn\u2019t what I\u2019m doing while I wait to have a settled life of my own, it\u2019s an end in itself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I received a review copy as part of the Patheos Book Club<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I picked up Denise Bossert\u2019s\u00a0Gifts of the Visitation: Nine Spiritual Encounters with Mary and Elizabeth, I had run into a very\u00a0short meditation on Mary\u2019s visit to Elizabeth on a friend\u2019s tumblr. the first christian and the first person to make a declaration of christian faith the visitation is so important. 2 pregnant women, caring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":11301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviewsrecommendations"],"yoast_head":"\nLearning Fellowship from Mary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before I picked up Denise Bossert's\u00a0Gifts of the Visitation: Nine Spiritual Encounters with Mary and Elizabeth, I had run into a very\u00a0short meditation on\" \/>\n<meta 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