The Annunciation

Edward Burne-Jones, "The Annunciation"

The Annunciation

We see so little, stayed on surfaces,

We calculate the outsides of all things,

Preoccupied with our own purposes

We miss the shimmer of the angels’ wings,

They coruscate around us in their joy

A swirl of wheels and eyes and wings unfurled,

They guard the good we purpose to destroy,

A hidden blaze of glory in God’s world.

But on this day a young girl stopped to see

With open eyes and heart. She heard the voice;

The promise of His glory yet to be,

As time stood still for her to make a choice;

Gabriel knelt and not a feather stirred,

The Word himself was waiting on her word.

 Malcolm Guite

"We see so little, stayed on surfaces..." I could spend the rest of my life thinking and expanding on that theme. That "veil", that dark glass -what is behind it? What am I missing by seeing only the surface of life? Is it like scanning the water, observing the reflections, the wave patterns, but never imagining the underwater kingdoms with its plants and mountains and creatures? Are there truly angels in the room with me now as I write? Is the visible thin and brittle compared to the eternal and invisible? When will the veil be ripped in two? When will the dark glass be shattered? What will it be like to experience and know that hidden blaze of glory? How did a young, inexperienced girl ever have the courage to answer God's messenger with, "Be it to me even as thou hast said."? The questions wait their time to be answered.