Mary's Prayer

Today's Blog is not my writing. This is a chapter from God Came Near by Max Lucado.

GOD. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child. Conceived by the union of divine grace with
our disgrace. Sleep well.
Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds. Sleep well, for the
heat of anger simmers nearby. Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in
your future. Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect
you.
Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no
gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more
precious:
to touch a leper’s open wound,
to wipe a widow’s weary tear,
to claw the ground of Gethsemane.
Your hands, so tiny, so white—clutched tonight in an infant’s fist. They aren’t destined to
hold a scepter nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that
will staple them to a Roman cross.
Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you
will see the mess we have made of your world.
You will see our nakedness, for we cannot hide.
You will see our selfishness, for we cannot give.
You will see our pain, for we cannot heal.
O eyes that will see hell’s darkest pit and witness her ugly prince . . . sleep, please sleep;
sleep while you can.
Lie still, tiny mouth. Lie still, mouth from which eternity will speak.
Tiny tongue that will soon summon the dead, that will define grace, that will silence our
foolishness.
Rosebud lips—upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness to those who believe you,
and of death to those who deny you—lie still.
And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest. For many difficult steps lie ahead for
you.
Do you taste the dust of the trails you will travel?
Do you feel the cold seawater upon which you will walk?
Do you wrench at the invasion of the nail you will bear?
Do you fear the steep descent down the spiral staircase into Satan’s domain?
Rest, tiny feet. Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power. Rest. For
millions will follow in your steps.
And little heart . . . holy heart . . . pumping the blood of life through the universe: How
many times will we break you?
You’ll be torn by the thorns of our accusations.
You’ll be ravaged by the cancer of our sin.
You’ll be crushed under the weight of your own sorrow.
And you’ll be pierced by the spear of our rejection.
Yet in that piercing, in that ultimate ripping of muscle and membrane, in that final rush of
blood and water, you will find rest. Your hands will be freed, your eyes will see justice, your lips
will smile, and your feet will carry you home.
And there you’ll rest again this time in the embrace of your Father.