Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, December 28, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I think all new parents ask this question. Not just the ones whose birth seems to be supernatural, as John’s did. The births of both of my children felt miraculous and wondrous to me, and the unbelievable potential in those enormous eyes delighted me.
What would John become? An iconoclast. An odd duck who dressed funny and ate bugs. A prophet whose words terrified the establishment. And ultimately, a martyr for his beliefs. Was this what Elizabeth and Zachariah hoped for their son when he was born?
My children are their own people. At twenty-five and twenty-three, they are not what I would have expected. With developmental disabilities and mental health challenges, they struggle in ways I would not have wanted for them. Yet they are wholly and amazingly wonderful human beings. They surprise and delight me. They bring amazing things to the world by their very existence. The hand of God is with them, and a lifetime of becoming lies ahead.
What do I hope to become, with God’s help?
