Labor Pain

[Beautiful Future - VIII]

What have you heard 2020 compared to?
A train wreck.
A tornado.
A migraine.
A dumpster fire.

Rightfully so, it’s compared to traumatic events and natural disasters.

However, I’m yet to hear it compared to pregnancy.

You might say, “Well, that’s because pregnancy isn’t traumatic. And it’s certainly not a natural disaster.”

Ask Mary. She might disagree.

Christmas is a story about trauma.
And the whole drama is a (natural) disaster.
But at the center of the story is a pregnancy.

Mary is pregnant with child.
She's pregnant with self-giving love.
She's pregnant with equitability and justice.
She's pregnant with grace.
She’s pregnant with resistance and creative alternatives.
She's pregnant with a more beautiful future.

And much like us, she labors—painfully labors!—as the beautiful future is delivered into the world.

Are we ready to receive it?