{"id":810,"date":"2010-12-23T09:14:18","date_gmt":"2010-12-23T09:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2010\/12\/marys-perspective.html"},"modified":"2010-12-23T09:14:18","modified_gmt":"2010-12-23T09:14:18","slug":"marys-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2010\/12\/marys-perspective.html","title":{"rendered":"Mary’s Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nine months pregnant and trudging toward Bethlehem…sounds like everyone’s perfect birth plan!<\/p>\n

Our veneration of Mary as the mother of the Savior would not have been shared by her culture. We forget that from the perspective of her society, Jesus was a child born out of wedlock. <\/p>\n

Mary was a “Teen Mom,” like on the MTV show. <\/p>\n

Putting yourself back in that perspective is difficult when for your entire life you have only known Mary as the mother of Jesus. Is there a time when you remember having anything other than warm feelings for Mary?<\/p>\n

Imagine what she might have been called. Think about the gossip and the rumors. <\/p>\n

Again, God chooses the unexpected. The King will be born to an unwed virgin and come into the world under a cloud of skepticism about who His father is.<\/p>\n

Mary’s perspective, is so well summed up by Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven. <\/i>Grant sings:<\/p>\n

Breath of Heaven, <\/i>
Hold me together, <\/i>
Be forever near me,<\/i>
Breath of Heaven.<\/i><\/p>\n

Breath of Heaven,<\/i>
Lighten my darkness,<\/i>
Pour over me Your holiness,<\/i>
For You are holy.<\/i>
Breath of Heaven.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Held together by the breath of heaven, Mary brings the savior to Bethlehem, and then to the world. <\/p>\n

God, hold us together with the breath of heaven like you held Mary so many years ago. Bring light to our darkness this Christmas, and pour your holiness over us, our families, and everything we do. Because you alone are holy. Amen.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nine months pregnant and trudging toward Bethlehem…sounds like everyone’s perfect birth plan! Our veneration of Mary as the mother of the Savior would not have been shared by her culture. We forget that from the perspective of her society, Jesus was a child born out of wedlock. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}