Yesterday, my son announced on Facebook that he has been
officially approved for the next step in his ordination process by his Methodist District Committee on Ministries - unanimously. This is a big deal.
As a Methodist candidate, Dan can do all that he can do but still, as a
Methodist, other people are responsible for determining his adequacy for
ministry in the church.
I could have told them he is ready. I could have told them
that he has spent his entire life getting ready. I could have told them about
his compassion, his empathy, his fearlessness in living ‘the Jesus life’. I
could have, but wouldn’t have, told them that I, too, have been working on getting
ready nearly all his life, raising him in a way that might mean he would take things on that might make me just a little bit afraid.
When he was small, I made a bracelet with beautiful
beads and beads with the initials WWMD. I somehow felt I NEEDED to do this but
did not know why. I did know that 'M' stood for Mary. But as I raised my own son, I often reflected on just how
hard it might have been for Mary, Jesus’ mother, to raise a son she knew,
according to the circumstances of her pregnancy (as told by Luke 1:26-38), was someone super special. She had been given a unique heads up that she had been chosen for an extraordinary
assignment to raise, love and protect Jesus with all her skill and
determination.
And yet even with all that great parenting, and as most of
us that were brought up in some sort of Abrahamic faith already knows, Jesus
struck out on his own at 12 years old, leaving his parents’ traveling group without their permission, to spend
several days learning from the Rabbis in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52). At twelve, Jesus
was right on the cusp of being considered fully capable of understanding his
spiritual obligations as a Hebrew. Shortly, he would be considered a man.
Still, I often wonder how Mary felt at the moment she knew
Jesus was not with her group. When I visualize that moment, I think her
thoughts might have been something like this. “Darn that Jesus. He is always
trying to push the limits. He is always trying to take on more than I think he
is ready for. He’s a bright, capable boy. He probably got caught up in
something he felt was important. I just know he’s okay. I don’t need to worry.
He’s GOT to be okay. Is he okay?”
I think, already, in her heart of hearts, she knew. She knew
he had a destiny that might be filled with great joy and great trauma. And, I’m
certain, her heart was sometimes heavy in this knowing. And the Bible verse
curiously leaves out any mention of Jesus’ punishment. I personally don’t think
there was any and I think at the moment Mary saw her beloved child with the
Rabbis her heart pounded with both pride and sorrow. How could she punish,
especially after Jesus spoke of his Father’s work? I think this Biblical moment
must have carried much clarity for Mary. And I feel for her every time I think
of this story.
I, too, have often feel blessed and sometimes a little irritated that I was chosen to raise my own challenging son. As I raised him, I wore my WWMD bracelet and
rolled the beads around on occasion of some dissonance in our relatationship. When I thought he might be
getting off track or when I was very angry with him, I asked ‘What Would Mary Do?’. When he sorrowfully and
deeply anguished because something was not at all right with his world, I asked
‘What Would Mary Do?’. With my heart in my throat while I was dropping Dan off for his first solo trip to
Europe by himself at the tender age of 18, I asked ‘What Would Mary Do?’.
Mary
was my soulmate as I raised this special son. I tried, as I am certain Mary did for Jesus, to help him find
ways to exercise his wings so they would be strong enough to fly straight and
true according to his own flight plan.
I can’t say I was happy that his flight plan included
becoming a minister. Ministers have to help their congregants face all kinds of
sad times – deaths, divorces, illness, addictions - as I told him when he first
told me he was set on going to seminary. Ministry is not all babies and
baptisms. No indeed.
But yesterday, Daniel’s ‘Rabbis’ spoke with their favorable votes.
They have recognized his Call as I have and have accepted him into their rather
elite company-those men and women who take up the mantle with the intention to
walk the walk of Jesus. And, let's face it, Jesus, the Jesus of Jesus Christ Superstar and the
Bible, is a very tough act to follow.
