Today's Card: A Woman's Wisdom on Your Behalf

From the story of the Women at the Tomb

Their story:

Jesus had died. The women closest to him (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary—the mother of James, and others) went to his tomb, taking spices with them with which to embalm and wrap the body. When they got there, the stone that covered the entry had been rolled away. They went in, but could not find the body. 

Suddenly, two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. They were terrified, but the men said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Then they remembered all the things that Jesus had told them—including that he would rise again. They returned from the tomb and told the eleven disciples and others gathered there what they had seen and experienced. Their words sounded crazy and no one believed them.

I sat through years and years of Easter Sunday services – watching the pageantry, listening to the music, hearing the sermons. In all of this, I do not remember these women ever being celebrated. Faithful family and friends, these women rose above their personal grief to attend to the body, do what had to be done, continue the rituals, and honor every aspect of life and death. It is not that they weren’t spoken of, but somehow, in the midst of the Hallelujah Chorus, the lilies, crisp new clothes and patent leather shoes, they were lost in the shuffle.

This pattern is hardly unique to Easter Sunday in church. It’s far more familiar than most of us would like to admit. Bigger stories tend to subsume our own—especially as women.  

But subtly, quietly, powerfully, behind the scenes and ever-present, the Women at the Tomb appear and act and believe and usher hope into the midst. I love that this is so.