Day 14: Ponder

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19

συμβάλλουσα (sumballousa)- She pondered what the shepherds had told them. Sumballousa implies more than simply remembering, but trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It’s funny how clear it seems to us in retrospect. Had not the very angel Gabriel appeared to her and explained all that was before her? Just nine months prior, he told her that she would give birth to the Son of God, who would sit on the throne of David, and that his kingdom would have no end. Imagine the gravity of it all. So much blessing and comfort; being visited by an angel, Joseph’s parallel visitation, and then the shepherds pouring on their account of heavenly confirmation. 

And Mary pondered. In the midst of everything within and without, she gathered the many words and conspicuous meetings, and she ruminated on what it all might add up to, what it necessitated of her, how she might be obedient in it. I wonder at the influence of Jesus’ mother. A thoughtful woman, a meditative woman, a dutiful woman it seems she was. Would His withdrawals into prayer and meditation be a pattern set by Mary? In an age of processing life “out loud,” we might do well to remember that both Mary and the man Jesus were prone to placid pondering.