Why "Red Egg" anyway?

The first person Christ appeared to after his Resurrection was his friend and follower Mary of Magdala. She couldn't recognize him at first and mistook him for the gardener. But when he called her by name, she turned and said to him, "Rabboni, that is, teacher..."

"Noli me tangere," Jesus said. "Do not cling to me. I must rise to my Father first."

Mary of Magdala is often confused with other women in the gospels. But she is not Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And she is not the woman caught in adultery.

She appears to have been a woman of means who helped support Jesus and the disciples. She was a myrrh-bearer because she purchased and brought myrrh and spices with which to anoint Christ after his burial. And she is an apostle to the apostles because she was sent by Christ himself to announce his Resurrection to them.

Traditions say that Mary of Magdala spent much of her life in contemplation and prayer after the Ascension. One legend is that she sailed—or drifted in a small boat—to the south of France with Joseph of Arimathea and Salome and "the other Mary" who had gone to the tomb to anoint Christ's body, too.

As the first witness of the Resurrection, she would proclaim, "He is risen!" and would hold an egg as a symbol of that transformation. One day she attended a banquet of the Caesar Tiberius.

"He is risen!" Mary proclaimed.

"He is no more risen than that egg is red," Tiberius scoffed.

Mary stretched out her arm and opened her hand. The egg was red.

Meeting the Divine—January 23 gathering

We lived in a Tibetan Buddhist meditation hall for two days—all alone, it seemed.

The thangkas were beautiful

…as was the solitude—and they have stayed with us in important ways.

A singing bowl still awakens us.

But nothing came all the way to life

…until you were here,

…and we sat together with a common, obscure intention,

…and the whole room hummed like a singing bowl itself.

Shree and Sushil and Pradeep and Promud hung the thangkas and set the singing bowls

…not like a shop, but like a temple.

And with her voice and singing bowls, Sharon created sacred space—within us and among us

And Emily explained—with passion and precision—Room to Read’s resolve to help.

Now all but one thangka and one singing bowl have gone.

But the sacred space is still here.

Saturday night was never about fundraising per se. But let’s do the math and see what else happened then.

With the purchase of thangkas and singing bowls and notecards and Red Egg prayer beads, we created $583 to contribute to Room to Read. We rounded that number to a neater $625

…because via one of those synchronicities the universe loves to give, we realized this morning that the Financial Times had selected Room to Read as a “Charity Partner,” which means that until January 27 (whew!), corporate sponsors will match all donations. In the blink of an on-line button, we’ve just raised $1250. We’ve dedicated that amount to Room to Read’s “Girls’ Education Program in Nepal.”

Yes, by some abstract abacus or another, we could consider this a modest sum.

But do the math. What this really means is that we’ve provided for the educational needs of five Nepalese girls for a full year.

You have paid their tuition.

You have bought their books.

You have given them uniforms

…and backpacks

…and writing supplies

…and provided their transportation. If they live far away from school, you have given them a bicycle.

You have given them female mentoring…and life skill classes and a wealth of other activities that will support them.

So when you are meditating upon Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion,

…or writing your friend a notecard,

…or wearing your prayer beads and running your fingers along them prayerfully, or absentmindedly,

…or when you are striking the singing bowl that opens your heart chakra

let it be a meditation bell

…reminding us that we are more connected than we imagine.

A few months ago, we were at the school in Nala that Shree and his brothers attended—a school with which Room to Read partners.

Even so, I don’t always remember well enough.

But let this art,

…these photographs,

…these dear faces—and our time together—help to remind us.

Note

Below is a link to Room to Read’s “Girls’ Education Program.” Here you can learn more particulars about the program’s approach and whom you are supporting.

http://www.roomtoread.org/Page.aspx?pid=284