Sometimes it’s good to ponder

Yesterday, we saw how the shepherds let loose in the Christmas story. They jumped up and left their flocks to go and find this extra special newborn baby. After they’d seen the baby, they told everyone they met about what they had seen. The good news was bursting out of them. They could’t contain their excitement. They went on their way, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard.

And then there was Mary.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19 (NIV)

And this is how The Message puts it.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.  Luke 2:19 (The Message)

I like the word ‘ponder’. I can imagining Mary pondering. It’s been quite a ride, these last few months. Pregnancy and labour are a massive deal for any young woman, but this was no ordinary pregnancy. Getting her head round being pregnant with the Son of God must have taken some doing for Mary. The angels, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the arrival of the shepherds – that’s a lot to process right there.

And so Mary ponders. There’s a lot she cannot understand, a lot she may never understand. She treasures all this mystery, knowing that it is from God and for His purpose. She can’t try to make sense of it. She has to trust that God knows what He is doing.

And so Mary ponders.

Have you ever sunballousa-ed?

If not, you should try it.

Our Lord’s mother, Mary, did.

The word sunballousa is Greek for “placing together for comparison.”

In Lk. 2:19, the word is translated “pondered.”  Why Your Heart Really Needs The Practice of Pondering by Ann Voskamp

Ann Voskamp’s blog is really worth a read. When I came across it yesterday, I pondered it and treasured it in my heart!

I’m not always great at pondering. I tend to be more like the shepherds, reacting from the heart, reacting immediately. I struggle to sit with uncomfortable feelings so straightaway try to fix them or numb them or avoid them. But I am learning. When I feel that I am on the verge of gaining a new insight or piece of wisdom, I hold back from verbalising. At the end of a retreat recently, we were asked to say what we had learnt and my response was ‘I’m not sure yet’. And when I get back in after an amazing event and my husband is expecting me to tell me how it went, my recent response has been ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow’.

The way we respond is in part down to our personality type. Some of us are naturally more reflective than others. But pondering can be learnt, even by the most impulsive among us. It’s about carving out the time to stop and sit and focus. To put aside all the many distractions and demands on our attention. Finding the discipline to count to ten before reacting and to take a deep breath before speaking.

These glimpses of glory we’ve been talking about over the last few days happen every day. Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with stuff that we don’t even notice them or we don’t have the time (or take the time) to really take them in. We don’t treasure them enough. We don’t weigh the significance of each glimpse of glory in our heart.

Let us learn to treasure all these things.

Let us learn to ponder all these things.

Let us learn to hold all these things dear, deep within ourselves.