What do you treasure?

I remember as a kid hearing that Mary, Jesus' mother, "treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51). In my youthful, overactive imagination, I figured she was treasuring the mini-miracles the kid was performing around the house. Or the special halo glow he exuded in lieu of a night-light. Now, as a parent I hear those words and wonder what Mary held so dear in her heart. Might it be more like this . . .

I was at the zoo with my older daughter this past summer, and we toured the new swamp exhibit. Not much was going on in the steamy, bayou atmosphere - the gators were lazy, the few birds refused to flap a feather, and fish floated as if in a coma. This inaction didn't do much for the younger zoogoers. Thankfully, at the end of the exhibit were the otters. The otters know how to put on a show.

Clusters of kids pressed against the glass where two otters played. Swooshing back and forth before our eyes, up and down, in and out of the water, slithering over floating logs and between rocks, the otters frolicked swiftly, impulsively, exuberantly. I stood in the back and watched the kids watching.

One of the moms announced, "Girls, it's time to go." Few moved. Her tone grew in severity, giving fair warning that they'd stayed long enough. Most of the kids began to shuffle out, but 5-year-old Tiffany just couldn't tear herself away. "Come on, Tiffany. We have to go," her mother called out in a final-warning tone.

When finally the caravan of mother, cousins, aunts, siblings, and overstuffed strollers had turned the dark corner and moved toward the exit and fresh air, Tiffany knew she could dally no longer. She got to her feet and began to walk away - but then swiftly, impulsively, exuberantly, she returned to the window where the otter who had won her heart glided by, inches away. Swiftly, impulsively, exuberantly, Tiffany planted a smack of a smooch on the glass.

I turned then to my daughter, who simultaneously turned to me, and we smiled at what we'd witnessed and the joy went deeper, each knowing that the other had glimpsed this spectacle of unabashed love and joy and life. I hold these things dear in my heart. I suspect Mary did, too.