The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene – July 22 –
Has long been on my calendar
Because
She has long been
A prophetic
Source of
Inspiration,
Wisdom,
Solace,
And yes Courage.

I wrote this book as voice, as consolation and encouragement, as vision and dreaming, as truth telling, as healing.

I was decades old
Before I realized
The presence
Of the absence
Of women’s narratives,
Women’s stories,
Women’s voices
In the Lectionary,
In regular, weekly Christian worship.

During Lent this year,
I had a hard time
Not rushing ahead
To Easter.
Perhaps,
It is because
Of the state of the world.
Perhaps,
It is the season 
In my own life.
Perhaps, 
It is simply
The tendency
Of being human

The “Our Father,” 

The “Lord’s Prayer,” 

“The words that Jesus taught us to pray.”

They have been prayed

Millions,

And millions,

And millions of times.

I love the liturgy.

I recent years and months,

I have forgotten just how much I love the liturgy.

I am drawn to women’s stories –
in their own voices,
about their own lives,
telling their own experiences.

But, when finally, I learn the ring-ness of human things, how rhythms pulled away aren’t left behind at all. I know I walk in shoes that are not mine.

Mary Jo Robinson writes poetry that illuminates how the sacred may be found in ordinary nature.