Christmas Song of the Day: Breathe of Heaven by Amy Grant

 

Since I threw some praise Joseph’s way yesterday, it’s only fair that I turn my attention toward Mary today. One I’m about to say isn’t verified fact, but based upon the culture of the day and what history tells us, it is very likely that Mary was a teenager when she conceived and carried the baby Jesus. Assuming that is true, view all of the following thoughts through the lens of Mary being around 15 or 16 years old and you will appreciate how profound her words and deeds prove to be, and how equally terrifying her circumstances would have been. From my perspective how highly some believers elevate Mary is a bit problematic for my conscience, but it is also problematic how little appreciation she was given — except in children and ladies classes — within my faith tradition. Until I discovered and fell in love with the Mark Lowry song, “Mary Did You Know?”, I had seldom given much thought to Mary at all. Once I began exploring the life and burden of this “highly favored” and “blessed” one among women (Luke 1:28), I began to recognize that she deserved a place of esteem equal to what we typically only give to Peter, John,  or Paul.

The lyrics to Amy Grant’s version of “Breathe of Heaven” always cast a heavy and somber tone over my mood. 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father, you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now, be with me now

Breath of heaven, hold me together

Be forever near me, breath of heaven

Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness for you are holy

Breath of heaven

Do you wonder as you watch my face

If a wiser one should have had my place?

But I offer all I am

For the mercy of your plan

Help me be strong, help me be, help me

Breath of heaven, hold me together

Be forever near me, breath of heaven

Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness for you are holy

Breath of heaven, hold me together

Be forever near me, breath of heaven

Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness for you are holy

Breath of heaven, breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Cold and weary with a babe inside…And I wonder what I've done…I am frightened by the load I bear…In a world as cold as stone…Must I walk this path alone? When I read these words from Amy Grant, fictionally ascribed to Mary — though I don’t believe unrealistically — I think of my Big Mama, my mama, and my wife. All three of them were also pregnant teenage girls. I wasn’t around to observe and interact with the first two, but I remember the look on the face and the sound in the voice of my then girlfriend when she spoke of carrying my child. I have to believe all three of these ladies from my life entertained the same kinds of thoughts, questions, doubts, and fears as Mary from this song.

I fully realize different cultures and eras of time produce different levels of maturity within people of various ages, but I can’t help but believe that a young teenager is filled with insecurities regardless of their culture and historical placement. So, my heart aches for a young Mary when Amy sings: Do you wonder as you watch my face, If a wiser one should have had my place? But I offer all I am, For the mercy of your plan, Help me be strong. There is no doubt He could have chosen someone far wiser, but then we’d be missing the point. “Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,

‘He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.’

And again,

‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.’ (1 Corinthians 3:18-20).

We are terribly shortsighted if we think God was looking for wisdom and worthiness. What He wanted was willingness, and whatever Mary might have lacked in those other areas, she abounded in trust. If God said she was the one for this role, she trusted God and submitted. It was this mixture of humility and faith that made her the perfect choice.

Though I haven’t walked those steps, I have travelled a similar path as a teenage father, terrified by the magnitude of the responsibility I would be carrying as a husband and father. I feel it within me when she sings: Be with me now, be with me now, Breath of heaven, hold me together.

All that we’ve explored thus far is true, but it is also only one side of the coin. Humans are complex creatures who can be more than one thing simultaneously. While Mary had a side to her that was humble and trusting, despite fear and doubt, she was also a fiery defender of what is good and right. This should come as no surprise, as one of the most common traits of motherhood is what modern mamas have termed the “Mama Bear”. Whether you are talking about bears, bovines or teen moms, you come between a mother and her baby and you will find out what she is made of, and Mary was made of the same passionate power as any ancient prophet. I didn’t know this until I read the “Magnificat”.

“Magnificat” is a Latin phrase that means “magnifies” and is taken from what might be thought of as the first Christmas Carol, the Song of Mary in Luke 1:46-55. If you are looking to comfortably sip coffee while chestnuts roast on an open fire and a winter wonderland covers the land outside, the Song of Mary is not for you. Frankly, modern Christian nationalists would dismiss these lyrics as “left wing” or “socialist” rather than sacred and spiritual.

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.

How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.

He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.

His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.

He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.

He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.

For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Not exactly the commercialized carol we are used to during this season, but perhaps it is the one we need. Is it any wonder her little boy will grow up to be a man who says in Luke 6:20-26, 

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”


Same song, different verse.


Usually when we think of a teenage girl singing we picture a “bubble gum pop princess”, but Mary is more Pat Benatar in a leather jacket with short, spiky hair, shouting “Invincible” on the soundtrack for “The Legend of Billie Jean” than Britny Spears singing “Ooops I Did It Again” in pigtails and schoolgirl socks. In “The Legend of Billie Jean” a teenage girl and her little brother become fugitives after a confrontation with a local bully turns violent. Billie Jean shaves her head as an homage to Joan of Arc, demands justice and becomes an icon for teens, leading to a standoff with the authorities. If you are familiar with the struggles and suffering of most first century Jewish women under the occupation of the Roman Empire, you realize the message of Mary’s song and the lyrics to the theme song from “The Legend of Billie Jean” aren’t that different.

This bloody road remains a mystery

This sudden darkness fills the air

What are we waiting for?

Won't anybody help us?

What are we waiting for?

We can't afford to be innocent

Stand up and face the enemy

It's a do or die situation

We will be invincible

This shattered dream you cannot justify

We're gonna scream until we're satisfied

What are we running for?

We've got the right to be angry

What are we running for?

When there's nowhere we can run to anymore

When you hear Jesus speak you are hearing Mary sing and when you hear Mary sing you are hearing words that got Old Testament prophets killed by the kings to whom they were speaking truth to power. Mary didn’t sing Jesus lullaby’s that put Him to sleep, she sang redemption songs that were designed to awaken the listener. Despite the unpopular attitude toward the term “woke”, it is much better than being asleep, and it is a refrain trumpeted by Mary, but it’s not original with her. Mary is simply singing a cover of an ancient tune. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. ‘I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand—I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.” (Isaiah 51:9-16). “Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Daughter Zion, now a captive.” (Isaiah 52:1-2). 

It was trumpeted by Mary and echoed by those who came after her. “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24:42). "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (Ephesians 5:14). “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 4:6). 

It’s time to stop dreaming of a white Christmas and wake up to the injustices perpetuated by the assumptions of white supremacy and the oppressive systems that keep women, minorities, and vulnerable populations in suffering. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

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