{"id":4501,"date":"2021-12-26T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2021-12-27T12:03:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T17:03:40","slug":"annunciation-by-denise-levertov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=4501","title":{"rendered":"“Annunciation,” by Denise Levertov"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read as call to worship, Durham Friends Meeting, December 26, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
God waited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aren\u2019t there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?
Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.
More often
those moments
when roads of light and storm
open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from
in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had been a child who played, ate, slept
like any other child \u2013 but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed
in joy not triumph.
Compassion and intelligence
fused in her, indivisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,
only asked
a simple, \u2018How can this be?\u2019
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel\u2019s reply,
perceiving instantly
the astounding ministry she was offered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power \u2013
in narrow flesh,
the sum of light.
Then bring to birth,
push out into air, a Man-child
needing, like any other,
milk and love \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but who was God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the moment no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A breath unbreathed,
                                Spirit,
                                          suspended,
                                                            waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She did not cry, \u2018I cannot. I am not worthy,\u2019
Nor, \u2018I have not the strength.\u2019
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
                                                       raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
                                  consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
                               and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
              courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read as call to worship, Durham Friends Meeting, December 26, 2021 We know the scene: the room, variously furnished, almost always a lectern, a book; alwaysthe tall lily.Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,whom she … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-message"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rLvf-1aB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4502,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions\/4502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}