@ Sea With Justin Mcroberts

Because I came into the practice of faith through a distinctly protestant doorway, I didn’t know, early on, what to make of the Catholic of veneration or even emphasis on Mary, the mother of Jesus. The way I’d heard the story told, Mary was almost a bystander to her own pregnancy; a tertiary figure watching the Spirit of God and a few angels conspire to bring Good News to the planet. Of course, like so many others, the older I’ve gotten and the more I’ve actually wrestled with God as a part of my faith experience, the more I’ve needed models and examples for what faith and faith practice look and feel like in raw human form. Mary’s “Yes” is a model and a guide to me. What would have happened  if, when I was presented with my ownreligious breakthrough moment,I said something more like Mary said.Because she didn’t leap directly into the story with enthusiasm and a smile.She paused, like Mary Magdalene at the threshold of Jesus’ tomb years later.What if I were to have said, “I don’t want this” or “I don’t think