Feast of the Parents of Mary

It's an odd feast day, this feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim.

In some cultures, our celebrant explained this morning, it is more than a feast to honor the grandparents of Jesus. It is a feast to celebrate aging in and of itself, and the mysterious way God works.

One of the myths surrounding these parents is that they, like the parents of Isaac, Samson, Samuel and John the Baptist, waited a long time before conceiving their child of destiny. After all rational hope is literally dried up, God acts. What's with that?

Whether or not this legend is true, it still points to the real fact that in our own culture, where youth and vitality are the prized possessions, God still works through the old, worn out, and frail. As one who has already gone over the hill, I find that, not only a huge comfort, but an inspiration to keep plugging away... to keep creating, writing, drawing, photographing, questioning.

Grandma Moses started painting in her seventies.
I guess I can draw cartoons in my sixties.