It was fine for Zecheriah - he may have lost his voice, but at least he was married, he was respectable, he knew what was going on, and it made some sort of sense.
None of that of in my case. The angel turned up, made the announcement, waited for my response - and left. If you look at the way the story is told, that's what you'll see. "And then the angel left her"
And that was it. That was me on my own, trying to make sense of it, and work out how to deal with it all.
I mean, at least Zecheriah could go home and talk to Elizabeth, and they were the kind of place where there was supposed to be a baby.
I had nobody.
I was going to have to tell everybody on my own, and I was not the sort of place where there was supposed to be a baby,
And the angel left.
Actually, when I think about it, I did what Zecheriah did. I went to see Elizabeth! We had been close for years - one of those over the generations friendships you get in families. You know; the kind of parental but just a bit removed. Anyway, I went to see her, and she, bless her, did understand.
Or at least, if she didn't understand, she was willing to let me talk, and think and cry and laugh and try and make it make sense. After all, her own situation, while not the same, at least had a measure of similarity - and more than that, she is a good person.
So, I spent a few months there. Ostensibly I was there to help her get ready for her unexpected expected one.
Really, I was there so I could come to terms with what had happened to me. Or if not come to terms with it, at least get used to it. Or something.
The angel left.
But Elizabeth was there, and she taught me to trust and hope and wonder and wait.
That was a message from God too, I think.
So does that make her an angel?