Thoughts for the Day

DETOUR Mary the lyricist?

Some question whether Mary would have been capable of composing the song ascribed to her in Luke 1 – the Magnificat.  The argument seems to be that it is simply too sophisticated for an uneducated peasant girl of the time and Luke must have put the words into her mouth as some sort of literary device.  It certainly is amazingly crafted, but this argument doesn’t seem to gel with Luke’s self-portrayal as a careful historian. So, could Mary have composed it?  During my internet dabbles I came across an anecdote about a country music singer named Travis Tritt.  Apparently, when he sensed the threat that his gigs might turn into bar brawls, he would play “Silent Night”, irrespective of the time of year, and the atmosphere would calm down.  This reminded me just how many carols I know from years of annual repetition.  We may fairly confidently assume that Mary was brought up in a devout Jewish family, where she would likely have heard scriptures on a regular basis.  From there it is not much of a jump to imagine her having in her mind a storehouse of scriptures: psalms, references to God’s character and purpose, perhaps also Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2, which has striking similarities to this song.  In response to Elizabeth’s affirming greeting she wants to praise God, and I can imagine that, like carols at Christmas, familiar phrases and scriptures sprang readily to mind.  And who can say how much natural talent she may have had or how much she may have been inspired by the Holy Spirit? Maybe the idea of Mary the lyricist is not so unreasonable.