My thoughts have been soaring heavenward with a yearning to be
one with HaShem especially today because the sky shone like shining
molten gold. The whole atmosphere seemed to be hushed as if it is
standing on tiptoe in the Shekinah of Adonai, (the glorious presence of
the Lord of Lords.) Many furlongs away the Sea of Galilee is rippling under this same
glorious sunset. If it reminds me so much of Paradise here, what must
it look like over the waves?
I was lingering near our almond tree, which is shrouded with a
thousand pink and white flowers. Over my arm hung a basket filled with herbs since I had just finished gathering them from our dew-scented garden when a dazzling dove
swept by catching my attention. She was such a bright contrast to the beautiful horizon. As I gazed upon her, I wondered if perchance this would be the time I would see where her little fledglings were hidden. I have been intently watching her for some time now.
I was also enjoying the fresh, invigorating breeze against my cheeks. It was sweetly scented with the fragrance of a million early flowers.
Then a Voice seemed to float towards me. I do not know how
else to describe it. I looked around but saw no one. There was such a
quietness, and calmness in the twilight stillness that I was not afraid;
just mildly curious. While my eyes swept the glowing sky and dewy
green landscape a marvelous Being appeared. He seemed to materialize
out of thin air, but for some reason I was pleasantly intrigued rather
than terrified. Then in angelic tones, this glorious creature, who was arrayed in
raiment that dazzled like snow, spoke to me.
“Hail, you are highly favored, the Lord is with you: you are blessed among woman.”
I had been gazing rapturously upon him but these words made me
feel uneasy so lowered my eyes. How could someone such as I be highly
favored? Surely my thoughts have become too lofty, and El’ Shaddai was
about to rebuke me. He knows how deeply I have longed to mother his
Son. Perhaps that was rash and foolish for talitha as lowly as I.
“Fear not Mary’am:” he said gently, “for you have found favor
with God.”
My hand pressed against my throat. “Me?” I breathed.
He nodded, and not only his face but his whole being glowed with a
radiance that could only be described as celestial. Although I was in
the presence of one of the angels of El’ Shaddai, for some reason I felt
serene, and more composed than I have ever felt before. It was almost
like I had been lifted to a hallowed plane. The cares and burdens of life
had fallen away, as if I had shed them for a time, like waterfowl sheds
water. After a momentous pause, he continued.
“Listen! You are going to conceive, and give birth to a Son, and
shall call His name Yeshua. He shall be great, and shall be called the
Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne
of His father David. He shall reign over the house of Yaakov, (Jacob),
forever: and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”
“Excuse me, sir,” I raised my eyes to shyly meet his gaze,
“But how can this be, since I am a virgin, and know not a man?”
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing that shall
be born of you shall be called the Son of Adonai.
A tremble shook my body at these majestic words, and I think my
face must have gone ashen. It was more than I could comprehend.
Carry the Son of God! That was my heart’s desire! Something I had longed for more intensely even than to be married
to my Chavivi, (beloved.) My knees felt weak. Surely something so
holy and glorious could not be happening to such an insignificant
handmaiden of the Lord. I must be dreaming!
The serenely glowing face of the angel came back into focus once
again, and when he spoke it was in a gentle, soothing voice about things
that were at least a little more ordinary.
“I have more good news for you! Your relative, Elisheva, (Elisabeth,) is carrying a
son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was
called infertile.”
I gazed at him in awe, open-mouthed but speechless. Elisheva ? A tremble shook my body at these majestic words, and I think my face must have gone ashen. It was more than I could comprehend. Elisheva was my favorite aunt! How wonderful! How very, very wonderful! Won’t Imma be delighted when she finds out? She always felt so sorry for her eldest sister because she never knew the joys of motherhood!
He beamed. “With God nothing shall be impossible!”
I sank to my knees and with clasped hands, replied in a hushed voice.
“Behold the talitha of the Lord: be it unto me according to your word.”
While I watched wonderingly, the angel’s feet rose from the ground,
his magnificent wings spread out, and I saw him gradually rise higher,
and higher, until he flew out of my sight.
After he was gone, an Invisible but very hallowed sense of Shekinah surrounded me. Never have I had such profound love, such happiness, and complete tranquility permeate my being as it did at that moment. It must have been a foretaste of the
joys of Paradise.
Although the sensation faded, I am certain that HaShem’ touched me in a very profound, and personal way. I cannot express what He has done for, and to me. When He left I quietly murmured
“Alleluia El ohim Yisrael!”
Shortly after this experience the evening sun set and the sky grew
dark quickly. The night air was laden with the perfume of roses, and
the sky was brilliant with stars. There were so many stars that it seemed
like there were surely symbolic messages of great portent written in the
sky that only the learned could read.
I slipped into the house for this little scroll, my reed pen, and a small clay lamp. I am now sitting on a large flat rock near the lovely
almond tree trying to write with the aid of the stars, and the lamp’s
flickering glow.
“Holy, holy, holy,” I breathed, loath to leave this sacred place, yet
knowing the hour was growing late.
I seemed to have been wrapped in an aura of other—worldliness for
the rest of the evening.
When I wandered back into the house, Imma, (mother), was busy chopping up vegetables for a stew. Soon the aroma of simmering onions permeated the air.
My sister Hana came in from milking the goats, and handed me the milk which I absentmindedly strained through cheese cloth into another container.
The hum of voices ebbed, and flowed around me, but I hardly noticed.
Abba, (father,) came in, and after washing up said the Banoah,
(blessing). After he was finished eating the rest of us gathered around
the table.
“You are quiet tonight,” Imma observed. Her voice barely registered.
“Mary’am.” Abba’s hand was poised above the scroll he was reaching
for. I looked up when he spoke my name. “Your mother spoke to you.”
“I’m sorry, Imma dear. Did you want something?”
“I just remarked at how quiet you have been since coming in.”
My cheeks felt like they were growing warm so I looked down,
and dipped a sop into the common bowl.
“I’m feeling . . . thoughtful, tonight.”
Abba and Imma exchanged a quizzical look, but I didn’t feel like I
couldn’t explain anything, not yet.
It is hard for me to grasp the magnitude of what actually happened just a few short hours ago, harder perhaps because everything else in
my small world continues in just the same down-to-earth way it always
had.
I hope people can comprehend that it is not that I am so special.
It is what HaShem is going to do through me. I am just a poor earthen
vessel.
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