Luke 1:38
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Mary gives us the perfect example of how to live our lives with her statement to the angel Gabriel. What if each of us lived that pledge? “Dear God, I am your servant. I put aside my plans…and ask that you make known Your purposes for my life…so that I might live accordingly.” It is the exact opposite of our culture’s insistence that you go for all the gold…grab all you can…attain wealth, power and prestige. Mary emptied herself of those “ego aims” and pledged to live according to God’s wishes. Easier said than done…you might say! Listen to the prayer of the famous monk Thomas Merton: “My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.”

Suggested song of the day—“Take the Road Less Traveled” on the Live to Love album.
All songs available on iTunes. Click on the link under blogroll to the right.
Have a blessed day!