After the encounter with the angel Gabriel, I wonder who Mary told that she was pregnant. Perhaps her parents. Maybe no one at that stage. I wonder if she felt an urgent need to get away and have time and space to process what was happening to her. Her pregnancy is
a scandal. She is unmarried, and the person she is engaged to is not the child's father. At best, she will be the target of unkind gossip; at worst, she could be stoned.
Quite possibly, not even her parents believe her version of the story of how she got to be pregnant. Maybe they are
disappointed in her. She needs safety, affirmation, empathy and companionship – perhaps the wisdom of someone further along the journey.
She must have had many questions: Will my parents still love me? How will I survive the pain of childbirth? Who will help me when my time to deliver
comes? How will Joseph react? Who am I to raise the son of God? Am I losing my mind?
Who can she talk to? More than anything, she probably wanted to be with the one person she knew was going through something similar on a human level – a pregnancy. But more than that, also on the level of
God doing something beyond imagining and something difficult to make any sense of. If Elizabeth is indeed pregnant, as the angel has told her, maybe she can also trust that what is happening in her is of God.
She journeys around 130 kilometres from Nazareth to Hebron, an uphill walk in a
mountainous region where there are often robbers. The journey would probably have taken nine or ten days and was unsafe to make alone. Someone would have accompanied her, or she might have joined other travellers heading toward Jerusalem.
When Mary arrives at Elizabeth's house, she is warmly and
joyfully welcomed. She probably arrives on the doorstep exhausted and scared, but she receives an immediate moment of recognition. Elizabeth instantly recognises that Mary is pregnant and carrying the One sent by God even before they have time to talk. At this moment, she is a prophet as she asks: "why should I be blessed by a visit from the mother of my Lord.”
Elizabeth sees. She gets what is happening for Mary – partly because she is also experiencing something of God’s extraordinary grace.
This moment of encounter is an experience of non-judgement, welcome, delight and
affirmation. Mary finds refuge in Elizabeth. It is an encounter that is marked by joy, assurance and anticipation.
Is there someone in your life you sense might understand the place you find yourself in? Is there a journey you feel compelled to make? Is there someone for whom you can be
a refuge?
