Mary’s song, “the Magnificat,” is an offense that lays waste to every last idol and ideology, and in its scandalous beauty, towers as an immovable redwood after the fires have consumed the brittle brush of empires and revolutions. These lyrics are not whimsical aspirations of a fragile teen peasant—they are earthshaking prophecies laying down the platform of the King she is knitting in her womb. If every believer in the Virgin Birth (i.e., Christian and Muslim) were to pray her song to Abba/Allah even once a week, the shift in our hearts, minds, and practices might make space for the Messiah to save humanity from itself.
From Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1:
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
