The Annunciation

A couple of weeks ago, as the school year was drawing to a close and final projects were being completed, our oldest daughter asked Elizabeth and me to review a self-recorded speech she had made for Language Arts class. A year and a half ago, we would not have known much at all about self-recorded speeches, but now we’re pretty much experts. Unintentional experts, but still…we know a thing or two about self-recorded speeches. 

So as we watched the speech, we picked up almost immediately on camera angle and height. Lighting and shadows. Strange and distracting things in the background. And one I struggle with and am always self-monitoring in my head—enunciation.

Her class required a written evaluation, so I grabbed a pen and went to town—noting all the items for the lessons we had learned after a year of recording our sermons each week, eager somehow to show off our technology knowledge. I went through our list and then wrote, “Enunciation could be better”—only I spelled it “annunciation” instead of “enunciation.”

Elizabeth was looking over my shoulder at the time and said, “I think you misspelled that.” “No,” I replied, “Pretty sure I’m right.” In fact, I was so confident I even did a Google search on the spot to get the proper spelling. When “annunciation” came back as indeed a word, I turned my phone over to Elizabeth to begin the gloating process. “See,” I said, “Annunciation.”

“Hmm…” was the response as Elizabeth tried to be tactful. “You might want to check the meaning of that word.”

So I hit the definition link, and as the results came up, I realized I had made a grave mistake. “Enunciation” is the correct spelling of the word referring to diction and speech. “Annunciation,” on the other hand, refers to the angel Gabriel declaring to Mary that she was going to be with child. I decided Elizabeth was indeed correct: “Annunciation could be better” was not what I wanted to write on our daughter’s speech evaluation.

Besides being a lesson in humility, my error got me thinking—I began wondering about whether indeed the Annunciation could have been better. We don’t know all the specific details, of course, but the Bible is fairly understated in its description. “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph…” Perhaps Gabriel could have used some fireworks. Or there could have a big-production song and dance number. Maybe some animals could have been involved to make the Annunciation better.

But then I thought—perhaps it was just perfect the way it was. Perhaps a bit understated was just right. One of our favorite Christmas picture books is The Nativity, illustrated by Julie Vivas. With beautiful watercolors, she portrays the angel Gabriel with tattered wings, torn tunic, and worn-through hiking boots. Gabriel stumbles into the scene while Mary is hanging the clothes up to dry, and they sit down together for tea.

In the town of Nazareth there are two ornate churches that mark the traditional site of the Annunciation. One is the traditional Catholic site and one the traditional Orthodox site. Both sit over water sources that are part of the same spring system that is the city’s only water source. Between them is a plaza with a simple above-ground fountain that is referred to as Mary’s Well. This is the site where everyone in the city would get their water up until 1966. An early 2^nd-century writing refers to Mary as being at a well when the angel Gabriel came to her. If so, it would have been at this well. There’s something beautiful about this news coming to Mary as she’s going about her everyday tasks—especially one that is so fundamental for sustaining life.

In the end, I don’t know for certain whether or not the Annunciation could have been better. I suspect not. I do know, however, the message could not have been better. God is on the move. Becoming human. Entering into our brokenness to redeem and transform it. Bringing us life.