A good thing can be yours for a while.
The news has come. You would like to tell it and, at the same time, keep it close still a little bit. Mary that meditates in the heart accompanies us to respect this time.
You opened the chat. You wrote two lines, picked a photo, thought of who to call first. Then stand still with your finger on the screen. The news is good. She made you smile alone. And yet you're not ready to tell it yet.
Perhaps it is a project that has begun to take shape, a meeting that has remained upon you, a reconciliation still delicate. You would like to keep him close without having to answer the questions immediately. Can you do that? Can you be happy even before someone else knows?
In the Gospel according to Luke there is a verb that invites you to slow down: to guard. Mary listens to what is reported by the shepherds and meditates in the heart what is happening. It's not a scene written to talk about our phones. However, it can offer us a point from which to reflect on the time of interiority.
What Luca really says
In Luke 2,16–20 shepherds reach Mary, Joseph and the child and report what they heard. The account describes the astonishment of the listener. At verse 19 the attention rests on Mary that guards and meditates in the heart.
The center of the page is the birth of Jesus and the mystery you let yourself know. The reflection on online sharing belongs to CHIARA!: it comes from that gesture of Mary, without assigning to it phrases or advice that the Gospel does not report.
Guarding us suggests the possibility of letting an event find its place within us. Sometimes the first emotion comes immediately, while the meaning takes time. We can be happy and still need to understand what is changing.
Before you tell, you can see how you're doing.
When good news becomes public, the conversation around begins. Happy birthday, questions, memories, suggestions. It can be beautiful. It can also happen that, after answering everyone, you realize that you haven't stopped for a moment.
You can give yourself that moment first. A walk, a written page, a prayer made with the words that come to you. You can tell God that you're happy, that you're afraid to lose that thing, that you still don't know how to hold it in your hands.
Gratitude does not require an already complete story. It can begin with a very simple thank you. And if with joy you feel uncertainty, you don't have to eliminate it to offer a brighter version of what you're experiencing.
Sharing can be good. Choose with whom
There are those who need to call a loved one immediately and those who prefer to wait. There is no single confidentiality measure that makes an emotion more authentic. The helpful question is about the freedom you are choosing with.
Would you like to tell it or fear that someone will be offended if they don't know it immediately? Do you want company or are you looking for confirmation before you allow yourself to be happy? These are questions to ask you gently. You can also talk about it with someone who can listen without taking your story into their hands.
One sentence can help: something I care about happened, I'm glad to tell you, but for now I would like it to remain between us. Those who receive this trust have a concrete responsibility. That detail does not automatically become news to pass on to others.
When the beautiful thing also affects another person
A friendship, a love story, a family choice have more than one star. Your desire to share also deserves to meet the times and desires of those involved. Asking for it can avoid an embarrassment that, from the outside, would be difficult to imagine.
Before publishing a photograph or telling a confidence you can ask if it's okay. And you can welcome a wait without immediately reading it as coldness. Someone can be as happy as you are and need a different form to express it.
Even good news has parts that can remain private. You can tell the essentials and preserve for you what makes that moment intimate. The proximity to others is not measured by the amount of details you make available.
Keeping leaves room for the necessary word
This reflection is about the freedom to live and share beautiful things. The silence imposed, a threat or a request to hide something that hurts you belong to another story. Asking for help and talking to a trusted person can be just the way to care for you.
Mary who meditates in the heart invites us, in our reading, to inhabit what happens with attention. Today you could reread Luke 2,19 and then stay with a question: what do I want to keep, before finding the words to tell it?
The chat can wait a few more minutes. Or you can call that person who knows you well. Either way, you can choose your own gesture with the time you need. Joy has already begun to exist: even now, while you are simply living it.
