Daily Readings: Luke 1:46b-55; 2 Samuel 7:18, 23-29; Galatians 3:6-14

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You‘re so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, the babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!

And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God. God took one look at me, and look what happened – I’m the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked the tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembers and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. Luke 1:40-55, The Message

Two women pregnant – unexpectedly bringing precious life into the world. Two songs of joy neither expected. Not songs of contentment or mere happiness – songs of JOY, songs of THANKS BE TO GOD, songs that see in their lives and the lives that they carry the hand of the creator of all that is, was, and ever will be.

There is nothing small or tame or even close to containable here. This is God With Us on the way; this is business as usual shaken apart, shattered; this is joy that smashes the box we’ve done our best to shove God into.

We aren’t big enough to contain this joy, but it’s big enough to include each and every one of us. So get ready to sing at the top of your lungs.