with reference to Luke 1:46-55

The “Magnificat” – such powerful words by a young unwed mother-to-be.   This was her song of praise when she found she was pregnant, and trusted God with how things would work out.  I love the version we just sang, with that powerful Irish tune backing it up.  It is a song of God tossing the unjust rulers of this world off their thrones and lifting up the weak, and feeding the hungry and sending the rich away empty- handed.  I’m sure when Mary sang it she thought she was invincible and with a little help from God she could change the world.

But then – Jesus was born.  And despite the beautiful Christmas carols we sing of a blissful mother and a non-colicky baby, and hosts of adoring angels, I don’t think that’s what Mary experienced when the powerful contractions hit. Her baby, as the story goes, was born in some hovel, miles away from her extended family, in a political climate that would not tolerate murmurings of any kind of king or saviour, or anyone who might have the audacity to bring good news to the poor.  I expect that Mary felt very alone and afraid, despite the awkward assurances of Joseph.

We know, don’t we, in various ways what it is like to feel helpless in the face of someone else’s pain.  We know what it is to be frightened when we have no control over what is going on around us, or all our plans crumble beyond repair.

The stories around Jesus’ birth are more metaphor that they are history – we really don’t know how things unfolded; each gospel is different, yet each story has truth inside it.  Each story speaks to our human condition of danger and hope, of wonder and wandering.  The gospel of Matthew tells us that this little family had to go into exile – hiding over the border for a time in Egypt, for fear of King Herod – the narcissistic and powerful local ruler.

Mary gave birth to Love, and she and Joseph would protect that love however they could.  I remember clearly the moment I held my baby son for the very first time.  I didn’t think motherhood came naturally to me.  Suddenly I understood the primal animal instinct to protect one’s young.  I was shocked by it – I knew instinctively I would protect his life, even if it meant losing my own.  Fortunately, it hasn’t come to that, and in a couple months he too will discover the mysterious and marvelous world of being a parent.

But as I reflected on my experience of holding my babies in my arms, feeling the joy and the terror of being responsible for the well-being of these tiny lives, I wondered what is was really like for Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the night of his birth.  We sang the words of the Magnificat, the song Mary sang when she felt invincible before the child was born.

I wrote the song “After the Magnificat”, in 1986, as I pondered these things.  I wrote it as in `the words, and the guitar chords’, but it was not really accessible for the rest of the world.   Today it is.  In 2016, thirty years after I wrote the words, I penciled in the basic notes on a sheet of music paper, and my friend Sabrina listened intently to me singing and playing it.  “I detect a bit of a calypso beat”, she said, which surprised me – I didn’t know I knew how to play calypso!  Anyway – she did a wonderful musical score of the song, and I am delighted to have the Black & Bluez Band backing me up today, so I can share it with you.

After the Magnificat  

Tiny child, so soft and warm – How calm you are in the eye of the storm.

1. I was so excited with you inside of me

but now you’re in a big new world, now you are free.

I shall teach you how to walk, hope it will be fun,

but now I question in my mind – will you have to run?

Tiny child, so soft and warm – How calm you are in the eye of the storm.

2. The world is waging war on every side,

everyone wants more and more, they’re never satisfied,

we are so in need of hope, we long for liberty,

our cry is echoed in the wind, it’s moaning through the trees.

Tiny child, so soft and warm – How calm you are in the eye of the storm.

3. I am so frightened.  How can I provide

a place to grow and live, a place to hide?

Is there some secret that I cannot see?

Have you some wisdom that you can share with me?

Tiny child, so soft and warm,  how calm you are, – you `Eye of the Storm.’

Words and music – Juanita Austin – April 1986 

Musical arrangement – Sabrina Trigg 2016