And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior …
- Luke 1:46-47
 
The Christmas story is full of music and poetry. Angels serenade shepherds with the good news of the coming of Jesus; Zechariah breaks his supernatural silence with a prophetic poem; and Mary bursts into song.
 
Edgar Wright, in talking about his film “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”, shares this observation: “In our film, people break out into fights the same way they explode into a song and dance number in a musical. When the emotion is too great to convey in mere words, characters in a musical will sing out. In Scott Pilgrim, they throw down.” That’s exactly what’s happening throughout the Christmas story.
 
The emotion of this season is tremendous. For hundreds of years God’s people have watched and waited for God’s intervention in their lives. They’ve had beats of hope that peter out over time. The night darkens and darkens as they await the dawn.
 
And when the news breaks that God’s season of salvation is upon them, they experience overflowing joy. And they remember these moments for the rest of their lives.
 
Luke collects these stories decades later and we can marvel at their remarkable texture and crispness. They don’t smell like mothballs. We can feel Mary’s enthusiasm, Zechariah’s delight, and the angels’ joy.
 
When have you experienced overflowing joy? How did you respond to it? How have you memorialized it?