Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"If I had been in her place, which would be harder for me to believe? The part about being knocked up by God and giving birth to a king? Or the part where the angel said, I was favored? I mean, if an angel came to me and said, 'Greetings, favored one,' I'd be like, 'You've got the wrong girl.' There's no way I would trust that the angel meant me. You know, since I've never managed to have my life look the way the youth minister implied it should in order to earn God's favor.

[...]

"When Stephen asked, 'How would my life be different if I was not scared and really believed I was loved?' I was reminded of the youth pastor's similar, yet completely different question. One question had to do with trusting God's love; the other had to do with trying to become worthy of God's love.

"There is a reason Mary is everywhere. I've seen her image all over the world, in cafés in Istanbul, on students' backpacks in Scotland, in a market stall in Jakarta, but I don't think her image is everywhere because she is a reminder to be obedient, and I don't think it has to do with social revolution. Images of Mary remind us of God's favor. Mary is what it looks like to believe that we already are who God says we are."

-- Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (2015)

(Alternative link, to start a bit farther back for more context)