For reference: http://madenoted.blogspot.com/2013/10/oh-absurdity.html
It's been a crazy year for me for a lot of reasons. I say that because of the things I've experienced and the things I've seen other people experience in 2015. All of which are too crazy to write down. Consider situations which arose out of total uncertainty, which had an extremely small probability of ever happening in the first place, and that seem to have no apparent reason for happening besides for just happening (but of course, everything happens for a reason). And the amazing thing is that everyone has experiences like these. The paradox is sweet: extraordinary, uncanny, almost impossible things happen to everybody. Situations such as these may differ in relative degrees, but, by definition, they're supposed to be unique to each person, or else they wouldn't be what they are -- absurd!
Two events in the Christmastime readings caught my attention this year:
The Annunciation:
(You can read the whole chapter for yourselves, I highlight specific verses)
Luke 1:29: But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Luke 1:34: But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
The Visitation:
Luke 1:43: And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
The first event is when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her she will give birth to Jesus, and the second is the Visitation of Elizabeth by Mary. What's so struck me this year is how Mary wasn't afraid to question how the pregnancy will take place -- after all, she didn't have any relations with a man! She didn't neglect logic and she wasn't rebuked for questioning how it would happen.
This is part of the sheer awesomeness of absurd moments ... they don't make perfect sense. When confronted by our conventional ideas of logic, our logic falls short. But even under these circumstances, Mary, rather than become in disbelief or denial of the situation at hand, accepted it. She said yes! Yes, it's a difficult thing to fathom, but she trusted in God, despite how absurd the situation was.
I think this particular passage, for me, allows me to give pause and appreciation for the events that happen in my life that just don't make sense. To accept them after questioning them to the best of our ability. In another way, no use crying over spilled milk. Don't stay stuck in the past. All these sayings come to mind, with the common thread that, although absurd, there's a reason, although an undefinable reason (at least in the present), for them to have occurred, and to trust in how things will unravel, to trust God about the situation and to move forward with whatever has happened.
Elizabeth's exclamation in the Visitation is just the existential icing on the cake. She has an absurd moment too, being pregnant after being thought unable to give birth again, and says something in the form of what Mary said during the Annunciation, and something I find myself saying all the time -- it came out of my lips a lot this year.
"How can this be.... " - Luke 1:34
"And how does this happen to me..." Luke 1:43
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe this is happening to me" - Me
"WOW, that's really just happened " - Me
"HOW? *LOL* Of course this would happen to me." Me
To sum things up, even Mama Mary had absurd experiences. But look what happened by her "yes". Look what happened because of her absurd experience. We have Jesus :)
Once we lose sight and appreciation of how absurd things are, how absurd situations somethings are, how special things occur... we fall into a monotony that life is never supposed to be. Life is an adventure, with plot twists and turns and crazy things happening.
I'm looking forward to all the crazy things that will happen in 2016! Happy New Year everyone!
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