Meditation on the Incarnation

Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, let go of everything that’s been swirling around your head. Empty yourself so that the Holy Spirit can fill you. …..

Imagine you are God Almighty and out of love and compassion for humanity you want to become a human being….. You could do so in any which way. You could breathe your spirit into a lump of dirt like you did when you created the first Earthling. But you decide you want the experience of growing inside the body of a woman. You don’t want the normal contribution of a man though. You want this to be just between you and a woman. ….. Why? ….. Don’t ask your head. Just put the question into your heart and body and watch what comes up. …….
And why do you want to grow in a woman’s womb for 9 months into a man? ….. Again, just sit with the question and see if an answer comes on its own. ….

Now see how you might pick a woman to be your mother. Notice what it feels like to choose Mary….. You are God and you are choosing Mary to be your mother.

Now imagine you are her, maybe a 15 year old girl in 1st century Nazareth, sitting quietly in your room, maybe doing some spinning or weaving. Suddenly, out of the blue an angel appears and greets you with: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” How does that feel? What does it take to let that in? …..

You and all your people suffering under the Roman occupation, for generations have been fervently hoping for the Messiah to come and set things right and now the angel tells you: “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. Look, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” You know right away, that means you are going to be the mother of the messiah. There couldn’t be any bigger, more earth-shaking news. How do you feel, letting that in? … Don’t think about what Mary said in reply, see what your heart in her place says right now. …..

The angel continues: “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Well okay, but you also know that if a woman is found pregnant by anyone other than her fiancée or husband she will normally be stoned to death. So you need help. Fortunately, the angel tells you that your old cousin, whose husband is a priest and who was barren her whole life, is also miraculously pregnant at age 80 something. They are highly respected people and could maybe give credence to your story of a miraculous pregnancy. Take a moment to thank God for planning these events like that and giving you strong support in Elizabeth and Zaccariah in your time of need. …..

Now say to the angel: “Okay, I’m in. Let God do to me as he wishes. I am at his disposal.”  Feel what it’s like to give your whole life to God. …..

Now imagine the angel disappears into light and thin air right in front of you. How are you left feeling? Feel into that empty, light-filled space left by the angel, filled with an awesome expectancy of scary, earth quaking, big things to come. …..

Now the Holy Spirit of God comes upon you to prepare you for conception of the Messiah. How does that feel? It’s that Spirit that comes from a completely different realm, that doesn’t think like anything on earth, that makes you into a completely new person and gives you a completely new perspective. Try to imagine. Let go of anything you’ve ever thought or known. Just be completely open to receiving whatever God wants to give you and let him do to you whatever he wants. …..

Now that you are prepared, opened by the Holy Spirit, imagine the power of God overshadows you ……. and plants the seed and the soul of Jesus into you. What’s that like? What just happened?! ….. (Heaven and earth became one in you. – the sacred marriage of God and humanity was consummated in you.)

And now every day for 9 months, you feel Jesus’ soul in you and his body taking on shape and growing in you.