For reality to become permeable enough for this performance, we cannot play it safe. To unlock the true indecency of Mary’s pneumatological story, we need to dig beneath its pervasive heteronormative frame. To even begin to understand the immensity of what it means to be penetrated beyond protection by the Spirit who comes as both life and death, a riskier game is required – a game that can complicate the gender and power dynamics of a Christmas story that is both too sanitized and too familiar.
