Knowledge

You have one wish, to either choose between being given knowledge of the mind or knowledge of the heart.   Which would you choose?  I’ve never claimed to be a person of intellect.  I dislike playing trivia games, or any game that requires knowing facts in an instant.  I even recall, with a smirk on my face, when I received an A on my report card in high school from my English teacher, and was most likely assisted by my gift to him of jellybeans.   Having knowledge of the heart, in my opinion, is a much better choice.  Being compassionate to others, caring for my husband and family (although far from perfect) is much more rewarding than knowing the answer to 2x + 3y (4) or being able to recall trivia like who won the World Series in 1966 (The Orioles!).   I pray, especially this week, to increase my knowledge of the heart, like Mary, the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  We’re celebrating Mary’s heart this week.  How would you handle all the knowledge that Mary had been given and experienced since the angel first visited her?  If it was me, I would be asking too many questions, panicking, calling my friends on the telephone or texting them to get their opinion and insight.  “Why is this happening to me?”  or “What do you think I should do in this situation?”  But Mary didn’t do that.  She held all of these life-changing experiences in her heart, even up to having to watching her Son’s life being taken on a cross.  She didn’t complain that life wasn’t fair or walked around with the weight of the world on her shoulders.  She focused on her faith in God and kept the knowledge of all these things in her heart and prayed.  That’s why God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.  It was obvious in those times that Mary was no scholar, but God knew her heart and chose her for that kind of knowledge.  God is still choosing – you!  He is choosing us to remain calm with the knowledge that He is always with us, to not lose faith AND to not even question His knowledge over ours.  Now, that’s an easy task, right?  But Mary did choose knowledge of the heart, and I choose to want to be like Mary. 

“And all that heard, wondered, and at those things that were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.”  Luke 2:18-19