From the article, ‘God Comes from Within’ by Kathy Coffey
After a long, tiring trip, the young woman arrives at the home of her cousin, who is several years older. She’s come to care for her, who despite her years, is expecting a child. The young woman is pregnant, as well – a pregnancy as unexpected as her older cousin’s. For the younger woman, her impending motherhood is filled with fear and anxiety; for the older woman, her joy at this unexpected grace know no end.
For both mothers-to-be, it’s a time of vulnerability. Every action, every decision is made in light of the child: Is it safe for me to do this? Would it harm my child if I eat that? They walk on eggshells – as they struggle through the tasks of their days with their ever-expanding girths.
For both mothers-to-be, it is a time of anxious waiting and sacrifice. In the end, they’ll remember their nine-month “confinement” as nothing, their painful labor hardly worth talking about. Every ache, every pain, every sacrifice fades into the light of this marvelous gain: this precious and irreplaceable child.
For both mothers-to-be, life’s center has shifted: from her own hopes and dreams to those of the child in her womb.
For both mothers-to-be, God has touched their lives in the child within them.
It is interesting to note that one of the first things that Mary does, after receiving the word that she would be the mother of Jesus, is to go to visit Elizabeth. The reflection of motherhood shared in the writing of Kathy Coffey and the recounting of Mary’s first journey after the Annunciation, reminds us that real joy and fulfillment comes from reaching out beyond ourselves.
It is to find God in others, to seek the holy, that which lasts forever, rather than the things of this earth. Those that do not last. It is to embrace life’s challenges and hard work, to create a life worth living, a life reflective of the kingdom of God.