”But Mary Can‘t Have Red Hair” Advent Devotion for December 12, 2021

But Mary Can’t Have Red Hair!

Written by Amanda Hinthorn, Director of Christian Education

Read by Denise Utter

Instead, make yourselves beautiful on the inside, in your hearts,

with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit.

This type of beauty is very precious in God’s eyes. --1 Peter 3:4

 

Article goes here. When I was little, I sang at church a lot.  I must have had an okay voice because I was quite often chosen for solos.  At the United Methodist Church, I was a part of in my elementary years, the solo at our Christmas program always was assigned to Mary. But how could I be Mary?  Mary does not have red hair.

Even as an upper elementary student I knew that the only person we know for sure in our Bible that had red hair was Esau. Some scholars say maybe King David too.  But that is it.  No other descriptions of red heads amongst the pages.  It seemed incredibly unrealistic for me to be Mary. At least in my 9-year-old eyes.

Now looking back on this moment in my faith and working with kids in our own church family, I have come to the conclusion that maybe God had the writers of scripture leave out a lot of the physical descriptors of people in the stories.  I tell kids all the time that it is more important that we see ourselves in the personality traits of each person we learn about than in what they looked like.  That is why I think the passage above from 1 Peter is so important.  It reminds us as we hear the stories of Advent and Christmas to be looking at ourselves on the inside. It helps us remember to connect our hearts with the hearts of those in these stories.

It is because of this that I have had baby Jesus wearing glasses in a manger (that year both Mary and Joseph had glasses), Wise People instead of just Wisemen, and Shepherds in house slippers for comfort just to name a few.  These kiddos have seen themselves in the stories of our faith and have wanted their telling of the good news of Jesus’ birth to reflect who they are.

And don’t worry, 9-year-old me learned that Mary could have red hair.  10, 11, and 12-year-old me learned that too.  I am forever grateful for the chance to see myself in Mary growing up.  Not from the outside but from the inside.

Thank you, God, for creating us as unique in our own way.  Thank you for knowing us completely.  Thank you for accepting us as your children.  Amen.