Do you remember the hubbub about the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich? A woman made herself such a lunch, but before eating it she noticed an image in the toast which she believed to be the Virgin Mary. So she boxed the sandwich in an airtight container for ten years, and recently sold it on eBay for $28,000. When the story broke, David Letterman unveiled his own grilled cheese artwork, displaying a likeness of Dr. Phil.

Now there's a sequel. Driving my son to school this morning, I heard the radio news reporting that you can buy an e-mail, bearing a Virgin Mary sandwich likeness, to send as a Christmas present. Or you can put someone else in the image, even (especially) yourself. My first reaction to such rampant secularism and materialism was not positive. But then I asked myself, what would Mary think of all this?

Put yourself in her place. She is a village teenage girl, 12 or 13 years old if she is the usual age for marriage in her culture. Her parents are typical peasants living in the hill country of Galilee. She would remind you of hundreds of other girls her age. Then Gabriel informs her that she will be the mother of "the Son of the Most High" who will "reign over the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32, 33). She has no way of comprehending such news. But she says yes to God. And what happens?

She watches her Son grow up to manhood and Messiahship, teaching the crowds and healing the sick, raising the dead and confounding the authorities. She agonizes at his cross, and rejoices at his resurrection. Through it all, she cannot possibly know that she will become the most famous woman in human history.

The home in Ephesus where she will spend her last years will become a spiritual mecca for pilgrims the world over. I've been inside, and marveled at the crutches hanging on the walls left by wounded people now made well. I've seen the lines waiting to bottle water from the nearby fountains to take to suffering family and friends. She cannot begin to imagine it.

She cannot know that her face will grace the cover of Time and Newsweek again this week. Or that grilled cheese sandwiches bearing her likeness will be e-mailed around the world. If she could see it all, I imagine Mary would offer a demure smile and go on with her day. She has more important things to occupy her attention.

She brought the Son of God to the world. Now her work is ours, if her Son is our Lord. If we say yes to God today, what will become of us tomorrow? Only God knows.

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