Impossible!

The Annunciation - Goya, 1785

IMPOSSIBLE is one of those words you just have to love. An idea or dream is born in the deepest part of our soul and we scoff "Impossible!" at first for such audacious dreams. As the dream persists, we begin to consider ways to pursue it. Roadblocks become challenges that either cause our spirit to wither, or we rise courageously to scale the mountain in one large leap. 

I remember thinking as a sixteen year old that it was an impossible dream to imagine myself practicing on a grand piano. The old upright had seen better days, but asking for and getting a grand piano from my parents seemed like an impossible dream. Isn't it an amazing thing that the God of this vast universe doesn't just know the number of hairs on our heads, he knows and cares about the deepest desires of our hearts. We did get an old grand for the farm house living room. That's a story for another day.

IMPOSSIBLE is one player in a summary equation of great stories, of great times, of great people ... impossibilities that are overcome to make something possible. 

Equations like:  

IMPOSSIBLE to Land on the Moon + JFK's Vision + NASA's engineers = POSSIBLE (One Small Step for Man + One Giant Step for Mankind).

Or ...

IMPOSSIBLE to overcome poverty + ingenuity + courage = POSSIBLE (The LandFillorchestra)

Or ... 

IMPOSSIBLE for a virgin to bear a child + GOD = POSSIBLE (the Christmas event)


The angel Gabriel was the one who announced the possibility of this impossibility being a reality when he said to Mary, 

For nothing will be impossible with God.

                                                                   Luke 1:46


You and I mostly live lives full of small details in our small part of the world. But just like Mary, insignificant village girl that she was, God can and does do amazing things through us and for us.

The God of the possible gives light in dark places, hope where there is despair, comfort where hearts are breaking, unexpected joys, unexplainable miracles, and much more!

Another way of thinking about this is to pray that familiar petition from the Lord's prayer:  

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Mary made that thought her pre-Christmas prayer when she said to the angel

"Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.  Luke 1:38

I wonder if Mary or Gabriel remembered this conversation on the night Jesus was born, or later when Jesus taught his disciples the prayer that is still being used around the world nearly 2,000 years later. 
 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

MUSIC LINKS

1

I've always wanted to play piano on a mountain, overlooking a grand horizon. Impossible? Posted here for my adult kids, both who enjoy Coldplay:

Paradise (Peponi) - Coldplay African style by the Piano Guys 


2

A joyful song based on Mary's joy and Gabriel's message:

Arvo Pärt: Bogoróditse Djévo