Lent 2022 - Week 2 - The Woman and the Cave - Vision

 This week, we jump right in to the vision Kristen Wheeler had, that prompted her to create this Lenten Journey. 

Here's a link to the PDF version of the guide. 

womanandcave

For this week, I will be reading the story, "The Woman and the Cave", beginning on page 6 of her guide.  I will also be listening to the audio version Kristen recorded, found here: 

https://www.thehiveapiary.com/post/shewasthefirst

I have read through the story quickly, and here are a few of my quick thoughts:

• This is a vision from a creative person about an important and under-valued person from our Christian story. It is not scripture It is one person's interpretation.  I say this in NO WAY to diminish her vision or story, but to ask that anyone reading it get beyond the visionary liberties taken. Because of her visions, there are parts of this story you have not read in scripture. That's ok. Don't get hung up on the parts that differ from your understanding or knowledge about Mary Magdalene.  

• The activity after the reading (p. 11) asks us to do two things. The first is to imagine the scene. See, smell, feel, listen. Sit with the story so you can understand it with your senses.  As a sensory learner and understander, I love this. It makes things like visions and dreams easier for me to understand. If you're an intuit, try to get in touch with your senses. If you're a sensory person, rejoice in this opportunity to let your senses soar. 

• The second activity is to spend time with the imagery of the cave. After last week's exercise to learn Plato's Cave story, this week, we place Mary in a cave and imagine it. We're invited to grab pictures from the internet, or draw pictures. I will try to draw, working on my growing edge of creativity.  

• After Kristen's vision (p. 6), She's listed several scripture verses that narrate Mary's story (p. 12) Read through those, and then reconsider Kristen's vision. 

• If you are a visionary or an intuit, I'd invite you to sit with the scripture verses and if so inspired, share your own Mary narrative. To be clear, I don't do this to dismiss Kristen's at all, but rather to let the Spirit move you as you interact with this material.  

There is an activity at the end of the offered scriptures, but I will tackle that next week. I just offered the scripture readings for this week's activity to ground us in what's already written from the men who wrote the scripture. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey.