Luke 1:46-55
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
To 23-year-old Allie’s enthusiastic excitement (to be read with all the sarcasm one can muster), I signed us up to do a mother/daughter devotional. I gently suggested she start, Allie being a creative writing major and having a day off when I didn’t.
She texted me shortly thereafter to say “I know this verse! I sang it!” She goes on …”it was for a church service at a camp at least 10 years ago. I still remember the tune and how beautiful the song is and what it was like in that moment. It’s a piece I hadn’t thought about in years, yet it was there in my mind with astonishing clarity thanks to this randomly assigned Bible verse.”
But the interesting thing is that the same thing happened for me when I read the verse. For me it was Sandi Patty’s “Oh Magnify the Lord,” from WAY more than 10 years ago – a song I knew well when I was Allie’s age. Music is powerful. Many of us find music as a way to glorify God. Both Allie and I feel that for ourselves, but it also made us think about the intentionality of Mary’s Song and the call to make glorifying God not about special events, but about daily practice.
Glorifying God isn’t just about the big choirs and magnificent instruments on Christmas Eve. It doesn’t require grand acts or extraordinary deeds and it isn’t meant for just every now and then. Rather, it calls us to ongoing moments of appreciation and praise. Every day God is in music, God is in sunlight, God is in congregations of those who love and serve each other. God is in a baby.
This Advent season and beyond, we can work toward moments of glorifying God throughout each day.
Contributed by Terri Trotter and Allie Trotter-Wright