preparation and gifts

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In spite of the fact that I spent the morning joking that this is one of those made-up events that is not scriptural and only exists to make sure we know that Mary was PERFECT and EVER VIRGIN and impregnated by GOD and GOD ALONE, there's actually an aspect to the feast I appreciate.

Advent is about preparation. And then Christmas comes and it's about the gifts we give and receive--and I mean that in the least materialistic way possible. To say that Mary was conceived without sin is to say that God chose her, and *prepared* her from her first moment of existence for her...wait for it...radical yes. Come on. An angel of the Lord appears to you and says that you, a random peasant 13 year old girl, will be the mother of God...conceive a son without "knowing" a man?! Come on. And yet, that brave girl--so the story goes--said yes. Because God had prepared her in a special way, because she had been given a unique set of gifts that allowed her to live into the life she was meant to live...live into the person she was meant to be.

We've all been prepared that way. We've all received gifts, some with ease and others with great difficulty, that help us achieve all we are meant to be. My current colleagues roll their eyes and recoil at the thought of teaching the littles. To them, it's all snotty noses, untied shoelaces, crying, and frustration. They don't have what I have (and I don't have the ability to be patient with teenagers in the same way that I am patient with the under-10 set). My unique set of gifts make me an elementary school teacher. I am meant to be that person, meant to live that life.