Saturday, June 30, 2012

Mary Magdalene's Reputation




 Who was Mary Magdalene?   Well I think she is one of the best examples of how a woman can be misjudged.   I do not know of any other person in history who has been as controverial or as mysterious as this woman.  What exactly was her relationship with Jesus and why was she made out to be a prostitute in the history of the church.   We know that she was a  devout follower of Jesus and followed him to the very end, and was the first to witness his resurrection.

 Throughout history she has been labeled such things as a prostitute, Jesus’ wife, apostle and writer of the Gnostic Gospel of Mary. Although her name has been cleared of the prostitution label, the mysterious life of Mary Magdalene is still heavily studied and strongly debated, especially in recent times.

After Jesus’ death,  she was believed to have been his favorite  apostle. She was asked to reveal secret teachings given to her by Jesus. After her revelations, which are found in the Gnostic Gospel of Mary, she had a disagreement with Peter about the teachings. I am sure that this did not go over well with the boys and they  had to discredit her for she may have  known more than she should and had become a threat. Therefore they had to destroy her reputation and they did a good job for it is only in recent history that the truth about her is slowly being pieced together.

Where Mary went and what she did after she left the apostles is still  debatable.  Some studies show that  Mary was pregnant with Jesus’ child and went to France, where her descendants eventually founded the Merovingian line of kings, made famous recently by the Da Vinci.

I am not sure we will ever know the real truth but she is definitely an interesting woman and I believe that we can learn a lot from her life. History does repeat itself just look around  and I am sure that you will find your own example of  such a woman.....




We Have Come a Long Way Girls



During the early history of the United States, a man owned his wife
and children. She couldn’t keep her name or possess any assets.
 
Even an inherited family home became the property of her husband.
If a man chose to send his children to an orphanage, the mother had
no defense. She also had no rights over her own body, although he
had full rights over his wife’s body. Crimes against women weren’t
considered serious. A woman’s “purity” was expected, but rape was
almost impossible to prove, and unless it was a black man faced
charges against raping a white woman, the punishment was negligible.
Women simply weren’t deemed valuable—at least not in the eyes of
the law. You can imagine the rage women must have felt.

                                                                       Chrystal Andrus Life Coach



Friday, June 29, 2012

Angela's Wedding


Angela

Angela had planned her special day for July 23. It was supposed to be a dream wedding with 175 people invited.  It was going to be a beautiful day and she looked forward to seeing it all unfold.  She had splurged on her wedding dress and on all the details. He had let her make all the arrangements and he seemed to be as anxious as she was for their new life to begin. She had met Steve more than a year  ago and had fallen in love with him within weeks of  his arrival in town. He was good looking, kind,  and seemed to adore her.

As she waited for the train to arrive, she went over the series of events that destroyed her dreams. The morning of her wedding,  an arrangement of  beautiful white roses were delivered to her mother's house. She carried them up to her room and  knew without a doubt that they were from Steve. Her heart swelled with more love and happiness than she had ever felt in her life. Opening the card she read the words.....
My dearest Angela,
You know I love you and always will for you have brought me more happiness than I have ever known.    Therefore it is with much regret and a heavy heart, that I am writing this letter to you, knowing that you will read it on the morning of what you think is your wedding day.
I  will not be waiting for you in the church today. I am sorry to have to hurt you so deeply for I know that you love me. Do not worry, you will meet someone else some day. A woman like you  will have no trouble capturing another man's heart. It is my loss. 
Do not search for me for I left last night. I have my reasons for doing this. Do not waste your time questioning my decision. Do not waste your time searching for me, for you will never see me again.  
Move on with your life Angela, from this moment on, I must only be a faded memory.
Always,
Steve

She heard the train stopping, picked up her luggage and walked away from the only life she knew.  Despite the protests of her family and friends, she knew she had to leave and start again. All she asked for was the strength to start again and to find a simple life. She was on her own and would always be..................


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Maggie's Raggedy Inn: Every Life has a Story

Maggie's Raggedy Inn: Every Life has a Story: Have you ever sat down for a quick lunch in a busy public restaurant or food court and seen a woman possibly in her early sixties, sitting...

Every Life has a Story


Have you ever sat down for a quick lunch in a busy public restaurant or food court and seen a woman possibly in her early sixties, sitting by herself drinking a cup of tea. You notice that she is well dressed and that she must have put effort into her appearance before she left home. You can see that she carries a certain pride in the way that she is seated and how she is politely making eye contact with the waitress for a refill.
Who is this lady and what brings her here you might ask yourself for she is really out of place in this burger joint environment. Why is she alone and why does she look so sad? Where in her husband? Is he at work? Is she divorced? Does she have any children? Maybe they are married and living in another part of the world?
Is she lonely sitting there all by herself? Where are her friends?
Maybe she just moved here and does not know anyone. Maybe she is looking after a sick husband and this is her only escape to spend time on her own while another caregiver takes over for a few hours to let her get out of the house?
Maybe she is waiting to meet a long lost friend or maybe she is going to meet a man and is involved in an affair. Maybe she just found out that she has some life threatening disease and she has come here to sort things out in her head before going home to her family.
Maybe she has just retired and does not know what to do with her time and so she dresses up in the clothes she used to wear to the office so that she feels she still has a reason to get out of the house. Maybe she lost her job and she has not told her family yet and so she comes here to pass her days trying to find a way to tell them that she feels like a failure.
What was she like as a young woman? What were her dreams and did she live a full life? Is she happy? Did she achieve all that she wanted to do. What are her dreams now for the future?
There could be a thousand reasons as to why she is here sitting quietly at her table, looking out the window with a far away emptiness.
Yes everyone has a story and in our busy lives we often forget that each person comes with a past and an uncertain future. You will never know who she really is because you have to get back to work but you tell yourself that you will be back tomorrow and will see another person with another story.
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"It's been said , ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.
But it is never gone." ― Rose Kennedy