ISSUES OF FAITH: Doodling in the sand

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 17, 2026

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene (July 22)

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

USUALLY, I WRITE about Sunday, but we’re coming up to one of the important feasts on July 22, the feast of Mary Magdalene, this Wednesday. Since the church these days often has some kind of celebration on Wednesdays, this column is for you!

If there’s one thing for sure, it’s this: there are a lot of Marys in the Christian scriptures. First, there’s Mary, Mother of Our Lord, aka Mary of Nazareth. And then there’s Mary, who’s the sister of both Lazarus and of Martha, all of whom lived together in Bethany. That would make her Mary of Bethany. And finally, there’s Mary Magdalene, who lived in, you got it, Magdala.

Wednesday will be the feast day of that Mary, not the other Marys. It’s very easy to get them confused, especially since all three were present the morning of the Resurrection. They all have different reactions to the news that Christ is not in his tomb, but my favorite is Mary of Magdala: she’s talking to Jesus, who she thought was the gardener.

I totally get that. I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me and cried out (hopefully with joy, but sometimes … not) “Keith!”

And then I go… “ummm, hi!”

Sometimes I mutter something about “oh, I know you, I know I know you, but I blank on your name,” or something about “being out of context,” or, worse of all, the dated “my bad,” but, nope, their name’s just plain gone.

Heck, I’ve even forgotten my own name! And if other folks are around, I’m hoping they have the sense to use this person’s name, which would be an easy out, but no. Oh, well. Humanity is frail.

I can see Mary thinking, “Say, that there gardener kind of looks like Jesus, but he can’t be. I saw Jesus die.”

She’s just seen two angels who are watching over Christ’s tomb, and they don’t give her their usual greeting: “Be not afraid.” And there’s no reason to, not with this Mary!

Mary just says, “Where’s his body? Do you know where they took him?”

Then she turns around and sees Jesus, living once again, and “supposed him to be the gardener.” And when Jesus asks her why she’s crying, he then calls her by her name.

Then she recognizes him and calls him “Teacher,” recognizing him at last and thus becoming the very first witness of the resurrection.

And then he gives her a mission: “Go, tell those men, the other disciples, what you’ve seen.” (Of course, being men, they just plain don’t believe her. Some things never change, I guess. And my socialization is such that I include myself in the category of “men” when it comes to mansplaining, apologies to all.)

But then there’s one story of a woman not named Mary in the Gospels (or so it seems): the unnamed woman who was caught in adultery, the one who was in the midst of being stoned. Her story appears in the Gospel of John, and several scholars have pointed out that the Law actually required both people, both the man and the woman, to be stoned. In this case, though, the religious leaders of her day brought just the woman (they knew better, though), and asked Jesus what to do with her.

And Jesus, who, let’s face it, could sometimes be irritating, sits down on the ground and starts writing. We’re not told what he was writing, but as an artist, I’ve always imagined that he sighed, sat down and began doodling. I think maybe what he’s thinking is “OK, shush, everyone, just settle down.” And then he drops a stone into what I know, just know, the Pharisees thought was a done deal: “We’ve got him now! We’ve got this woman caught in adultery, and we’ll ask him what to do, and he’ll either say ‘let her go,’ and we’ll say ‘Gotcha!’ or he’ll say ‘Stone her,’ and then we’ll tell everyone it was his idea.”

But Jesus, as he often does, turns the situation around, in what I certainly would have called “a teaching moment,” and says, “OK, if you don’t sin, you start.” And they watch as Jesus, no doubt a bit bored by all this, keeps writing in the sand. I read one guess, basically, that he was writing out their sins in the sand, but I think that’s overwriting the event. He was just saying “Please move on, nothing to see here.” And they drop their stones and go away, and when it’s just Jesus and this unnamed woman, he basically says, “They’re not perfect, and I don’t condemn you either. Go and don’t do this again.”

But then the early church gets what seemed a brilliant idea. Mary Magdalene is getting too much power from her strong position in Rome and her church, as much as Peter’s, is the one that will grow into what we still call the Church of Rome. What to do, what to do? And they simply married (sorry, couldn’t help it) the two stories together. Mary, who had been freed from seven demons, suddenly becomes the woman caught in adultery, two entirely different people.

This whole situation is just religious hypocrisy, the kind we still see (and do) today. It’s very easy to be part of the modern day church which is either a radial force for reform or part of the institutional power structure aligned against those in poverty or part of the marginalized. There’s no middle road there. You fight with the poor — or against them.

That’s what the early church did to Mary, and it is so easy to be the same thing today. And it’s very important to look at what you’re doing: are you fighting the radical fight and aligning yourself with those who are hurt? Or are you part of the structures of the day who are helping to hurt them?

You have to choose. Again, there’s no middle way.

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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Previously a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, Dr. Keith Dorwick is a lay person continuing his walk with God who has joined the community at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Port Angeles; he’s also the executive director of Spiritual Directions of PA (https://spiritual-directions-pa.org), his next holy adventure.