The Voice of the Beloved

It was the worst morning of her life.
Exhausted, grief-stricken,
and alone.
Her beloved has been executed.
The one on whom her whole life has depended
is gone.
The one who had given her hope
when all hope was lost,
that gave meaning and purpose
where there had been none,
the one who was everything in the world to her,
dead.

She stumbles to the tomb.
It is empty.
She can see nothing but loss.
Frightened, grasping,
and weak
she turns and is met by a man.
Questioning,
she pours out her story.
Stopped by the call of her name,
she is transformed.
Clarity, wisdom,
purpose, meaning,
joy, belief,
understanding,
and healing
are carried in that one word
and all becomes clear.

Darkness to light,
fragmented to whole,
opaque to clear—
all are accomplished with the call of her name.
Mary.
The Beloved speaks to her soul
and knowing is accomplished within her.

The Appeal Of Mary's Life

The life of Mary Magdalene has generated much interest. 

One of the reasons 

I believe that it holds such broad appeal 

is that she was the recipient of unconditional love. 

The scriptures record 

that she was cleansed of “seven demons”. 

Her story is one of total, unconditional healing.

There are many myths and stories 

about whether she was an immoral woman 

or whether in fact she was the perfect apostle. 

I believe that we can safely 

hold both ambiguous ideas in mind at the same time. 

In fact, her legacy almost requires that we do. 

Don’t we all hold within ourselves 

the sense of great inadequacy 

and at the same time such great potential? 

Her life seems to encapsulate both of these conditions.

She therefore represents our own longings and desires 

for unconditional love, 

healing, 

and wholeness. 

We see her as the be-loved of the Beloved. 

She represents the Bride. 

The Christos Sophia. 

Metaphorically, we are all the Bride of the Beloved.

As a representative of the Divine Feminine, 

she also represents the wounded feminine within creation.

 As she is once again noticed 

and appreciated within ourselves, 

it helps to restore and heal the feminine within All.

As we grow in our own healing, 

the desire to give of what we have received 

also grows within us.

 We become channels 

of the same love that has made us whole. 

If you feel the pull of the Magdalene energy, 

which I believe we all do at some point, 

you are feeling the pull of unconditional love 

and desire to be filled with it 

and to share it with others.

There are many other qualities that she embodies. 

The conversation will grow 

as you contribute your own sense of what this means.

Esther--Wisdom's Voice

Esther was a young Jewish girl 

who was living as a captive in ancient Babylon. 

She had lost her parents 

and was looked over by her uncle, Mordecai. 

Eventually, she was recruited 

to be in a beauty pageant for the king, 

as he was looking for a new queen. 

Evidently, she was quite beautiful 

because she was selected as the new queen.

She never revealed to the foreign king that she was Jewish.

 As the story unfolds, 

we find that she and her people are condemned to die 

because of the jealousy 

of one of the king’s dignitaries of her uncle. 

She puts her life on the line 

to skillfully expose the plot of the evil Haman 

and her people are delivered. 

It is the basis for the Jewish holy day of Purim.

Courage to risk the disapproval of the king, 

courage to face the unknown, 

courage to live in a heathen palace 

were all demonstrated by the young Esther. 

She represents the face of Wisdom—the Divine Feminine.

 By relying on the power and wisdom of the Spirit 

she was able to move through her fear 

and the unknown

 and become the vehicle for healing and protection 

for a whole nation.

She represents the path that we may all follow 

in moving through this life beyond our fear and challenges. 

By asking for Wisdom 

to be a part of our daily life

 we may be assured that the Spirit will live through us. 

We will receive healing, 

not only for ourselves, 

but will also bring healing to the world.

Healing Spaces

Living in our hectic world 

we need a healing space in which to grow. 

Many times we don’t heal because our space 

does not protect us from negativity and fear. 

As long as we live in an environment 

that is hostile to our healing, 

we stay stuck.

Workspaces, relationship spaces, spiritual spaces, 

and home spaces 

are all an important part of our journey here on this earth.

 We have a lot of power in choosing 

and shaping our spaces, 

but we often times pretend that we don’t. 

When we deny that we have chosen 

and created our spaces, 

we give our power away.

Do you live in a healing space? 

If you don’t, you will sense it on some level. 

You will have a great yearning for something 

that maybe you can’t put your finger on. 

You might spend a lot of time convincing yourself 

that you love your space. 

If you don’t have a good workspace 

or relationship space 

or spiritual space 

you may be afraid to do anything about it. 

Maybe your religious beliefs have convinced you 

that you can’t change your space.

One of the fundamental spiritual principles in God’s universe

 is free choice. 

When we find that something is not working for us,

 we have the freedom to move on to a different choice.

 There are always consequences for our choices,

 but we are always free 

to make changes.

This is the key, the secret, 

to moving forward on the spiritual path and to healing.

 We have to be willing to change 

what is not working for us. 

We have to listen to the still, 

small voice of Spirit 

and be willing to act on her promptings. 

Our happiness and wholeness are indicators 

of the quality of our environment. 

We must learn to listen carefully 

and follow the joyful path of Wisdom’s voice.

Divine Healing

Love is so powerful that it possesses healing properties.

 It is a powerful energy. 

We experience healing from the healing power of God’s love.

 This was the basis for the miracles of Jesus. 

The power of love flowed through his heart 

and as people reached out to him for help 

the healing compassion of God’s love performed a miracle.

We think of miracles as events that are out of the ordinary 

and yet we are all familiar with love. 

What we are not so familiar with 

is love so great and so powerful 

that sickness and darkness flee from its presence.

Love heals. 

It is the basis for all healing and all miracles.

 It is Divine Magic. 

Although we may not posses the power of God’s love, 

we can learn to be vehicles for healing love. 

When we open our hearts to our Creator 

and when we volunteer to be used for a channel of love, 

God will begin to work through our lives 

to bring love and healing to others.

Our job is to keep our hearts open towards God 

and towards others so that we won’t let our own unloving thoughts 

or behaviors block this channel of healing love to the world. 

This is why our spiritual practice 

and remaining in active service to others is so important. 

They both keep us connected to our purpose

 and mission to be a vehicle of healing love to the world.

As Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 13, the love chapter, 

we may possess all manner of spiritual gifts, 

but if we do not have love, 

the others are pretty much useless—just a clanging gong

—a noise in the world. 

Religion, when devoid of healing love is just that

—a whole lot of noise and commotion. 

To revitalize your own experience with God, 

seek to know love, 

to be filled with love, 

and to share love. 

You are then on the path of becoming a Divine healer.