Soul piercings

Piercings are big. I’m not sure why, but they are. People do things to their bodies that make me squirm when I see them. It’s not that I have some huge moral argument against piercings. I just have a weak stomach. Cut me. Do I not bleed? Will I not pass out?

Piercings were on my mind last night because I was talking to the Lord about stuff (that’s what prayer is for me) and He reminded me of a verse that I’ve read more than once before. Now, I’ve learned when God reminds me of verses that I’ve read before it’s usually because He knows that there’s something more for me to know and this one was no different.

Side note: I’ve noticed that the more regular I become at writing, the longer and apparently less grammatically correct my sentences become. Also, I like to add thoughts to the end of sentences in the form of another sentence. Like this. I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. Oops. I did it. Again.

Anyway, back to piercings and the verse in Luke 2:35 that God showed me (again) last night. In it an old man who had been waiting a long time to see the Messiah says to Jesus’ mother, Mary, “And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”

Not a very traditional greeting, right? I mean, there’s not a “Soul Piercing” section for Hallmark cards because people don’t want to open a card that tells them that at some point their soul is going to feel like it got stabbed and crushed. “Happy Birthday! This will be the worst year of your life! We love you!”

Remember when I said that God brings these verses to my mind because there’s something I’ve probably missed? Well, I’ve always read this verse and assumed that Mary’s soul was pierced because she would watch her son die. I already knew the storyline because I’ve seen — and been in — a number of Easter plays.

But last night, I sensed God telling me that Mary’s soul was pierced because she was an active part of His plan to love a world that would ultimately reject that plan. He loved the world so much that He gave us Jesus, and He gave us Jesus through Mary. Mary was a conduit of the greatest act of love the world has ever known, and seeing that gift trampled 33 years later left her soul pierced.

I’m probably never going to get a body piercing, mostly because I don’t want to embarrass myself by waking up on the floor of a business looking at the face of the one who was piercing me. But as someone who prays daily for God to make me a vessel of His love for the people that I meet, I realize that I am going to be pierced. You will be, too. Soul piercings are the price we pay to deliver Jesus to the world.

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