Awakened to Eternity

Mary Magdalene

By: Jeanne Kun

A Poem & Reflection

The day of rest past—

rest prescribed by law,

rest that refreshed her body

and eased the fatigue of the harrowing day spent at Golgotha,

yet brought no relief to her grief—

Mary made her way early

to the garden where the priceless treasure of her master’s body lay,

that tabernacle so cruelly ransacked and emptied of the glow of life.

Night’s veil was not yet lifted from the earth,

but already a faint glimmer spilled over the horizon’s edge,

pushing back the shadows

and spreading its soft light through the garden as Mary entered there.

Yet even as the dawn began to break,

desolate darkness and black fear blinded her eyes,

for she’d come in one last act of kindness

to anoint her Beloved with sweet spices—

and found the tomb and…