Mary, Were You Dumb?

Got your attention, didn’t I? Now, please don’t accuse me of blasphemy or putting down the amazing mother of Jesus. I admire her greatly and I suspect she was very intelligent - espeically for a teenager. But the song we all love, including myself (Mary, Did You Know?), includes some (ahem) inconsistencies.

• Mary, did you know - That your baby boy is Lord of all creation? Yes, the Messiah had long been foretold and Mr. Gabe Angel was pretty clear when he appeared to her. She was also told that Jesus would be the Son of God.

• Mary, did you know - That your baby boy will one day rule the nations? Yes, see above.

• This sleeping child you're holding - Is the Great I Am? Yes, see above.

• Walking & Kissing - Yes, she knew He had walked where angels trod and had likely kissed the face of God.

• Did you know - That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? Opinions here are mixed. She may have known the Old Testament story of sacrifices and the prophecies in Isaiah. And she knew He was there to save people from their sin but did she know the method and that He would be alive again three days later? That we don’t really know.

  —

  But Mary did know the One she nursed. And yet our song, as beautiful as it is, seems to insult her intelligence at times. What I really want to know is did she capitalize His pronouns when she wrote, like we do? :-)

  Ten Things I Suspect Mary Did NOT Know:

• The intense parental love that fills us when we look at our newborn child. (BTW, God feels this for you!). She may have known and felt God’s intense love for her in her experience as the chosen one. I hope she did. If not, she surely has felt it now!

• She was never told where He’d be born. I wonder if she expected fancier conditions for the King of all? I may have. And let’s not even mention how we think she got there although that’s one of my fave parts, if it happened. (I love donkeys)

• That people, including shepherds and several nation’s leaders, would journey to meet and worship Him. I wonder how that felt to have three famous men bowing down to your at least two-year-old?

• I’m not sure she expected his vast knowledge and spiritual longing. That He might miss heaven. That He likely wanted to see his Father, for real. That He would teach from a young age and people would gather to hear the wisdom and insights of a 12 year-old. That He wouldn’t mind when they left Him behind because He was busy fulfilling what His Father wanted.

• That His life would be in danger. At first from King Herod, of course. But also from others throughout His life. Can you imagine the dinner conversations? “Jesus, please come home as soon as can. No, you can’t travel to John’s. You know, not all people are nice out there…”

• That His “birthday” would become a reason for national celebration, giving, love and family. And did they celebrate it? They must have.

• That He would spend time healing people while He was on earth. That He would choose to have dinner and gatherings with sinners who society detested.

• That He would eventually get baptized by His cousin and BFF, and that the crowd would hear a verbal blessing from the Father heaven.

• That He would have siblings. I wonder if there was sibling rivalry? Annoyance at this Jesus who was set apart, different, preaching, and performing miracles. That he never sinned, never got in trouble, was incredibly perfect. Unlike those of us who competed with “seemingly perfect” siblings who were truly inperfect, He really was perfect! Can’t compete with that.

• That His human life was one of waiting, like ours so commonly is. Waiting to go back to heaven, knowing He would be abused and die (perhaps dreading the pain of that), waiting for relief from emotions and tears. Waiting for each next step from His Father over 30 years time. His purpose took over 30 years to be recognized and accomplished. Remember that when it seems like your purpose/next steps are taking forever.

If you are like me, you’d like to ask “the originals” some questions someday and I’ve always thought Mary would be a stellar one to interview. But I wonder if that will happen. One of my NDE friends did see the “Greats”. He states that their robes were slightly different, and that people stepped aside in reverence as they walked by. And so far in my studies, the following “Greats” have been spotted in heaven: Elijah, Peter, Abraham and John the B. In Matthew 8:11, we are told that we will sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We will likely be able to talk to them someday. But at that point, my incessant questions probably won’t matter and your’s may not either.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! And welcome to new followers and subscribers.

If you do want to do a paid subscription to get posts past three months old and other special benefits (books and events!), I hear Substack is offering half off subscriptions this week. Just FYI. Not needed to read current posts.

If you haven’t already checked out my books, feel free to do so. They are on my website if you want a signed copy and Amazon if you don’t care about that, or want an ebook or audio version. No, they are not about heaven. They are previous works, a fiction suspense series that tackles human trafficking, and book 3 will be out in April. Treat yourself to some reading time this holiday or shortly thereafter when the kids are finally in bed. Last week at church I heard from two ladies who admitted they shouldn’t have started “Innocent Lives” on a Saturday night. They were up much too late reading and struggled to get to church on time. Oops.

"Julie tackles a difficult subject. Hard but necessary to face. She draws you in fully to the lives of two different victims, crosscut stories, but also manages to show you where angels show up. She gives hope in the midst of the trials, and the encouragement to press through." - Cheryl McKay (Writer and Director, These Stones)

I am in the proposal stage of my heaven book and when I am done with book 3 of the series above, I will be writing on heaven. Yay! I was previously committed to the fiction series before God allowed me my heaven visit.

I am still collecting Christian near-death and angel/other miraculous stories. Have one or know of one? Click here.

If you have been encouraged by reading this, or know of someone interested in reading more about heaven, please share, restack or send a friend a link.

Thank you, friends, and have a joyful Christmas.