Deborah Beach Giordano
© February 24, 2012
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
~ Mary’s Magnificat; Luke 1:46
This lovely song of celebration makes me uncomfortable. I find myself thinking: What does my soul proclaim? Too often, I confess, a kind of shriveled cynicism; a suspicion that all is not well, that our tasks are too hard, the world’s failings too complete.
Especially after driving in commute traffic.
What if there were a way to see just how things are with us, internally? Imagine a microscopic examination of our spiritual condition — where our deepest essence was revealed. Now that would be scary.
There might be a few flecks of light, but then … What is that?? An alarming accumulation of ugly things: frustration, anger, and resentment, envy, scorn, and fear…. I can see it now: like germs in commercials for Lysol. 
Ewwww.
That’s not what I want inside me. That’s not who I want to be.
Perhaps Mary’s words can serve as an affirmation: a goal to be achieved, a statement of what will (God willing) one day be true; that abundant joy and gratitude shall abide in our hearts and shine forth from our souls
and fill the whole world with love.
