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ce1c303
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She has committed great sins, but they've been forgiven, and that's why she loves so deeply.
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faith
religion
god
hope
love
mary-magdalene
prostitution
second-chances
forgiveness
redemption
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Philip Pullman |
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b313219
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What could she possibly have done that was so heinous as to earn her a lifetime of self-mortification? No one short of a tyrant deserved such unremitting agony. I cried there with her, for her, for Eve, for sorrows past, for sorrows yet to come. I put my pencil away. It was wrong to draw live pain. If there had been an artist at Bethany, it would have been wrong to intrude his chalk or charcoal on Mary Magdalene's weeping as she washed Jesus' feet. Some things were too raw for art until time dulled their sharpness.
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pain
sorrow
women
mary-magdalene
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Susan Vreeland |
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f4d4e9a
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My former bishop Allan Bjorberg once said that the greatest spiritual practice isn't yoga or praying the hours or living in intentional poverty, although these are all beautiful in their own way. The greatest spiritual practice is just showing up. And Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of just showing up. Showing up, to me, means being present to what is real, what is actually happening. Mary Magdalene didn't necessarily know what to say or what to do or even what to think when she encountered the risen Jesus. But none of that was nearly as important as the fact that she was present and attentive to him.
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christianity
jesus
faith
mary-magdalene
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Nadia Bolz-Weber |
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4feb2b4
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Of course, Mary Magdalene would have very little tolerance for the Christian platitudes and vapid optimism that seem to swirl around these kinds of tragic events. Those platitudes are tempting, but they're nothing but luxuries for people who've never had demons (or at least have never admitted to them). But equally, she would reject nihilism, or the idea that there is no real meaning in life or death - ideas present in so much of postmodernity. Those ideas, too, are luxuries, but they are for those who have never been freed from demons.
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loss
christianity
jesus
faith
mary-magdalene
platitudes
demons
grieving
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Nadia Bolz-Weber |