A woman possessed - of passion, perception and persistence

 

John 20:18

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary Magdalene

A woman of strength

a woman of faith

A follower and a leader

who bore witness to the resurrection.

Labelling her as “a woman of ill repute”

suited the narrative of the men

threatened by her insight

who couldn’t live with the notion

that she was a prophet who recognised the Messiah

Labelling her as “possessed”

allowed the patriarchy to dismiss her charisma

and her ability to witness to truth and to power

with her gifts of passion, perception and persistence.

And, when it seems that little has changed

with the passage of time

when strong women and their leadership

is played down, dismissed, undermined

still we continue to do what we do

and to be who we are called to be

women called and ordained

to bear the good news 

birthing life in all its fullness.

Morning Prayer in the city

Listening to the Morning Prayer app

on the London Underground

Pressed up close to a man

carrying what looks like an oboe

I look around and wonder

what others wearing Ear Pods are listening to

Novels? Music? Podcasts?

Perhaps there are other Morning Pray-ers.

Later, at the meeting that brought me to the city

we pray in concentric circles

And upstairs a Pilates instructor

calls out directions to her class

Sharing more than perhaps she intended

unaware of the eavesdroppers in the room below

And my wondering takes me to musing

on whether my core is being strengthened

as I pray underneath her studio

Will I breathe more easily

letting go of all that I’ve been holding on to

Relaxing into who God is?

And the words of David Wagoner’s poem Lost

float into my mind

“Wherever you are is called Here”

So - Here is where I pray.

(Liz Crumlish July 2023)