Ma and Mary Magdalene
A space for Holy Saturday
Today is Holy Saturday, my favorite day of Lent. For me, it is a day for Ma and for Mary Magdalene.
Ma is a term I learned as a taiko student. My partner Kathryn, who is a professional taiko drummer and musician says, “Ma is a moment of silence that amplifies the sound around it.”
If those of us who observe Lent, or any framework that moves from unfathomable destruction to unimaginable liberation, proceed without Ma, I wonder what wisdom, felt experience, and sacred whispers we stand to miss (again and again).
When I was in seminary, all MDiv students had to create a Middler, a theological taking-stock of our respective learnings, journeys, and calls. These pics are from a draft of my Middler.
A mystical-intellectual-practical-pastoral thought leader, theologian Shelly Rambo wrote a book entitled Spirit and Trauma that helped to anchor my Middler project. In her work, Mary Magdalene and the Holy Spirit (as relayed to us through John) are primary figures in a holy space that involves disorientation, disassemblage, and a refusal to rush away from the energy of what remains.
This Holy Saturday, I will be tending to errands and connecting with loved ones. And, somewhere deep down, I will also be carrying Ma and Mary Magdalene with me. Listening.
With you in impossible possible,
Coke
Your words “ disorientation, disassemblage, and a refusal to rush away from the energy of what remains” is a balm to me today, As it exactly describes my state right now… And urges me to stay with the energy of what remains. I am grateful that, if I have to go through the series of hardships, I’ve been through recently, I get to do it over holy weekend. So grateful for you and Ma and Mary (and also smiling sweetly as I remember way back when you were putting together your Middler)
Coke---What a beautiful, spacious gift. I'm receiving the Ma on this Holy Saturday.