The Annunciation

One of the most interesting parts of the Christmas story to me is that of Mary's pregnancy.  There's so much drama there: the angel messenger, the shock of her observant Jewish family and neighbors, the embarrassed fiance.  The start of that story is the Annunciation, when Gabriel visits Mary to tell her she has been chosen.

The angels of the Bible were not fluffy Victorian angels.  From Gabriel's instruction "Fear not," we can imagine that the sudden presence of a heavenly entity offering to change her life must have been, in a word, terrifying.

The angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame.
- Basque carol

Painting: Henry Ossawa Tanner

She did not cry, "I cannot, I am not worthy," 
nor "I have not the strength."
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
                                          raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
                              consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
                          and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
              courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly.

- from "The Annunciation", Denise Levertov