December 8 - Jonathan Gibbons

The particular artistic depiction that comes to mind for me is the painting of the Annunciation by Early Renaissance painter and Dominican friar Blessed Fra Angelico, which today can be seen in Florence, Italy. 

It is striking to observe what Mary is doing in various paintings of the Annunciation. She isn't washing dishes or sweeping the floor, and one could hardly imagine a sincerely reverent contemporary depiction in which she is interrupted while watching Netflix or wearing earphones. 

Rather, Mary is depicted sometimes reading a book, apparently Scripture, while at prayer. What captures me most about Fra Angelico's rendering is that she doesn't even have a book with her. Rather, she is completely attentive and locked eye to eye with the angel Gabriel, receiving his message, apparently not in the midst of doing anything but being completely available to God's will. 

 The 20th-century philosopher Josef Pieper writes in his essay Leisure: The Basis of Culture, "The Middle Ages drew a distinction between the understanding as ratio and the understanding as intellectus. Ratio is the power of discursive, logical thought, of searching and of examination, of abstraction, of definition and drawing conclusions. Intellectus, on the other hand, is the name for the understanding in so far as it is the capacity of simplex intellectus, of that simple vision to which truth offers itself like a landscape to the eye." 

In Mary's response to the angel Gabriel, we see both of these operations of the human mind made manifest—one the one hand, upon receiving Gabriel's news, she operates in the realm of the logical ratio, asking, "How can this be?" But she also demonstrates a receptivity of the intellectus or intellect, to the extraordinary proposition that "nothing will be impossible for God," saying, "be it done to me according to your word."

How often do we, whether navigating relationships or thinking about our next steps in life, allow ourselves to be caught in a cycle of "paralysis by analysis"? Mary provides us with an example that, in restful stillness and openness to see things as they truly are, despite our preconceptions, we can have more insight into truth than we could otherwise do by our mental gymnastics.

As we continue on our Advent journey, we might ask ourselves, "How do I cultivate this stillness and receptivity? How much do I allow what others are doing or saying, whether in person or on social media, to obfuscate my own perception of myself and my genuine desires? How much time do I spend in conversation thinking of what I am going to say, rather than truly listening to others?" This Advent, let us cultivate opportunities for stillness and contemplation, availing ourselves to and trusting that God's notion of the possible transcends our own.