One of the things that rolls through my heart and mind at Christmas-time (when I stop long enough to let it), is from Luke 2:19 “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” I love to think about Mary. Who she was. The thoughts that she held, sometimes I’m sure weighing heavily in her heart as she carried that holy baby to term. As she held that baby close in that lowly stable, the star glowing above.

So I fell in love with a presentation my friend Shelly made at our church gathering last week.

Shelly studied art history and has collected a myriad of depictions of “madonna and child” of all different mediums and from all different cultures and time periods. She set them to one of my very favorite Christmas songs by Michelle Moyer (who used to live by us and who is so talented!). I sat there in tears as I watched, overcome with the beauty.

So I asked if I could share it here and she kindly obliged. I figured it would be the perfect little gift this Christmas Eve. Turn up the music and enjoy.

Some of my favorites:

If you want to just listen over and over again to Michelle’s gorgeous voice, here it is. I want to play this on repeat all day this season.

I love to think of all the artists who created these depictions, and how they each came from a different vantage point, seeking to understand and internalize that holy birth in different ways. And the different ways they depicted Mary “keeping those things and pondering them in her heart.”

Makes me think of what I am keeping and pondering in my own heart. Are they things that make me love more? Are they things that make me feel closer to God? Am I seeking God first, before all the other things grabbing at my attention? I have to keep trying to shift my perspective in this fast-paced world. But how grateful I am for a season to try to remember what it’s all about: that Christ-child born to a humble mother in a stable all those years ago.

Wishing you the beauty of a “Silent Night” whether your Christmas Eve is chaotic or still, may you feel the depth of that silent night, holy night all those years ago, centered around that tiny baby in the manger, as you keep those things and ponder them in your own heart.

Sending lots of love this Christmas Eve.

xoxo

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2 Comments

  1. I love this question, “what am I keeping and pondering in my own heart?”

    Thank you for this quiet and beautiful interlude during a crazy couple of days.

    Sending you and your family love.

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