The daily routine easily becomes too much, assaulted by pressures, struggling with feelings, no sense of satisfying purpose. The hamster runs mindlessly on its treadmill. We can identify.
Participating in the church helps Jesus' followers see beyond the cage, to be reminded we live in two time zones, "body here yet soul above" as one hymn says it. Today offers one of those trandscending opportunities, the day the church calendar honors Mary Magdalene.
Because Mary's hometown of Magdala had a whoring reputation, tradition labeled her a call girl. Fact is, the Bible doesn't say that. Mary did have some kind of physical or emotional disease that Jesus healed (Luke 8:2). Her response to Jesuswas to become one of His most prominent followers.
Had Mary only run the daily treadmill, she'd be no special encouragement to us. Today her devotion to her Deliverer is what we remember. "God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The transcendent look outside our cage helps the Spirit reset our clocks, "body here yet soul above, full of faith and hope and love."
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