Womb of time

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

The Eighth Day of Christmas

(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)

Womb of time

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, 

and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this, 

they made known the message 

that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed 

by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, 

reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned, 

glorifying and praising God 

for all they had heard and seen, 

just as it had been told to them. 

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, 

he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel 

before he was conceived in the womb.

And the next thing we know, Jesus is twelve years old and discussing thorny theological questions with the priests in the temple. His family returned to Jerusalem every year for Passover, and this visit was very different from the first so many years ago. Simeon and Anna have both passed on. Joseph and Mary are growing older. And baby Jesus is growing up.

I often remember the verse from 2 Peter: “With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day.” I feel my body relax as I remember God’s version of time is so different from mine. The urgent needs of the day aren’t so overwhelming as my perspective takes an eternal turn.

Jesus’ thirty years in Egypt and Nazareth sped by like an instant of earth time. I wonder how Jesus experienced time during these years. How naturally did he see his life the way his Father did?

In her book Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, Anne Rice imagined dialogue between Satan and Jesus in the desert. Satan didn’t think much of the “curse” of time:

“What is time in which you grind your aching muscles to dust, all of you? Why do you bear it? Why does He bear it? You claim to know His Will. Tell me, why doesn’t He shut it down?”

“Shut down Time?” I asked. “The gift of Time?”

“The gift? It’s a gift to be lost in this miserable world of His, lost to the pitiless ignorance of others, in Time?”

Jesus understands time as a gift, not a curse. He speaks again to Satan.

“I would ask you where hope comes from, if not out of time? I would ask you that and give you that answer, but you’ve made your decision, whole and complete and forever, and for you there is no time. …

“Ah, cursed and designing Spirit. Do you remember nothing of Heaven? Surely you know that there are things unfolding in the womb of Time that are beyond your dreams, and sometimes beyond mine.” (p. 189-90, 193)

During his ministry, in his calm assurance Jesus quieted storms, walked on water, brought children back to life, confronted Pilate … he was certain of God’s point of view, and shared it completely with us. He lived with us in the “womb of time,” confident that our rebirth would allow us to join him in eternity.

In Garrison Keillor’s fabled Lake Wobegon, “All the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” That would also be true in the Garden of Eden, a place where Jesus would have fit right in. But in Nazareth? There he must have been a stranger in a strange land, in spite of his goodness, in spite of his inner peace; or maybe, because of his goodness, because of his inner peace. It’s hard to relate to someone who does not worry, does not seem to experience stress, does not second-guess himself. Who do they think they are?

May God have pity on us and bless us;

may he let his face shine upon us.

So may your way be known upon earth;

among all nations, your salvation.

This first day of 2026 can be for each of us a day for new beginnings. Of course all my days are days for new beginnings, and Jesus waits for me in each of them. When I let him, Jesus teaches me patiently that God’s love lifts me out of the problems I feel acutely in my mind, on my skin, all over my life. He shows me how to celebrate and how to rest, and how to live my life well.

The LORD bless you and keep you! 

The LORD let his face shine upon  you,

and be gracious to you! 

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you

and give you peace!

 (Numbers 6, Psalm 67, Galatians 4, Hebrews 1, Luke 2)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

#