Perhaps my favorite moment in the Bible comes when Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb and finds it empty. I can imagine her shock and fear and confusion. What has happened to Jesus?
He arrives a second later and she does not recognize him. She thinks he's a gardener. She begs for his help. And then he says her name.
Mary.
And she knows him.
I have always wondered why Mary didn't recognize him to begin with, why many of his closest friends didn't recognize him following his resurrection.
This morning, pulling into church, I saw a large bird running along the ground like a velociraptor. What is that, I thought, as I slammed on the brakes and put the car in park. One of the things I have learned about birds is that they always follow a pattern.
Rarely had I seen such a large bird chasing its prey by foot on the ground. And for a moment, I was dumbfounded as to what I was looking at. The bird seemed to have come from outer space. It was so odd and so different than what I was used to seeing.
I zoomed in on him and saw that he was a hawk, clearly a hawk, but not like any hawk I had seen. I was used to red-tailed hawks and this hawk was smaller, darker and quieter. When I got home and looked more closely at its picture, I saw that bizarrely enough, it had red eyes.
As it turns out, it's most likely a Cooper's Hawk. I'm no expert, but regardless of the exact type of hawk, it's a common hawk, widely seen.
But because it had behaved so differently than what I was used to with other hawks, for a second, I didn't believe my own eyes.
It used to really bother me that Mary and the others didn't recognize Jesus right away. But after my encounter with the hawk this morning, I think I understand Mary better.
She wasn't expecting Jesus. Even after all she had seen, even after all that she had dreamed might happen, it was a shock when it finally did, when he appeared very much alive after an agonizing death. She could not believe her eyes because what she saw did not fit with what she knew of the world.
It was only when he said her name, when both her ears and her eyes came to the same conclusion that she realized just who was standing in front of her.
She collapses then. That's how I imagine it, after those days of unbearable grief, she sees him and that grief flows away from her with such force, she buckles.
Grief leaves and joy follows.
He arrives a second later and she does not recognize him. She thinks he's a gardener. She begs for his help. And then he says her name.
Mary.
And she knows him.
I have always wondered why Mary didn't recognize him to begin with, why many of his closest friends didn't recognize him following his resurrection.
This morning, pulling into church, I saw a large bird running along the ground like a velociraptor. What is that, I thought, as I slammed on the brakes and put the car in park. One of the things I have learned about birds is that they always follow a pattern.
Rarely had I seen such a large bird chasing its prey by foot on the ground. And for a moment, I was dumbfounded as to what I was looking at. The bird seemed to have come from outer space. It was so odd and so different than what I was used to seeing.
I zoomed in on him and saw that he was a hawk, clearly a hawk, but not like any hawk I had seen. I was used to red-tailed hawks and this hawk was smaller, darker and quieter. When I got home and looked more closely at its picture, I saw that bizarrely enough, it had red eyes.
As it turns out, it's most likely a Cooper's Hawk. I'm no expert, but regardless of the exact type of hawk, it's a common hawk, widely seen.
But because it had behaved so differently than what I was used to with other hawks, for a second, I didn't believe my own eyes.
It used to really bother me that Mary and the others didn't recognize Jesus right away. But after my encounter with the hawk this morning, I think I understand Mary better.
She wasn't expecting Jesus. Even after all she had seen, even after all that she had dreamed might happen, it was a shock when it finally did, when he appeared very much alive after an agonizing death. She could not believe her eyes because what she saw did not fit with what she knew of the world.
It was only when he said her name, when both her ears and her eyes came to the same conclusion that she realized just who was standing in front of her.
She collapses then. That's how I imagine it, after those days of unbearable grief, she sees him and that grief flows away from her with such force, she buckles.
Grief leaves and joy follows.
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