Mary had unbelievable struggles, gut-wrenching fears, doubts, and eventually “had a sword pierce her own soul.” But when it was all over and she was asked to tell her story, she was able to look back on everything she had been through and say, “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my heart rejoices in God my Savior.”

When we follow Jesus, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The spice and preservation we add to life can’t be taken away from us. We can’t become un-salty. We also can’t become un-lighty. But, we can hide our saltiness and lightiness.

Because Mary understood what the power of the resurrection means for all of us, she was able to move past the deep pain of betrayal. When Luke asked her how she remembered her story, she shared these words with him: Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

If you’ve ever felt pushed aside by religion. If you’ve ever felt like you were second class because of your gender, delight in Matthew’s introduction. Read the stories of Jesus and know that shame and being pushed aside does not come from God.

Thankfully, once you free yourself from their lens of de-valuing women, the Bible has a ton to say about how much God values us.

When I say “religious people”, I’m talking about those people who are really good at following the rules. The super moral, perfect looking, put together “shiny people.” The people who only have cute problems and when they have those cute problems they pray and have a great attitude about them. That kind of religious people. The kind of people who give me an intense desire to mess up their hair.

I have a vague memory of being a super hopeful, encouraging extrovert. But lately, I’ve been lying in bed for thirty minutes (or so…) after I wake up, just wondering what the point is. It often leaves me questioning: Jesus, where are you? When are you going to show up? Cause you could have fixed all of this.

John’s reflections on the life of Jesus after seeing traumas we can’t even comprehend, shouts: “this isn’t just good news it’s incredibly-amazing-best-news-ever- NEWS!!!!”

What if things are more complicated than any of us individually understand? What if no individual group has all of the answers? What if everyone is at least partly wrong?

Reflections on John 21, disappointment, selfishness and not seeing the world around me.