Mary Magdalene Washes Jesus’ Feet With Her Tears
How many of us are willing to love someone the way Mary Magdalene loved Jesus? As we grow in life experience, it is possible we will grow more fearful and distrustful of other people, and that we are less willing or able to love in such a deep way.
This is my second painting started this week. It was inspired by traditional paintings of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with her tears. My painting is not so much about the scene from the Bible, but about the gesture of love and devotion.
In the traditional image, a voluptuous Mary Magdalene, blonde and sensual, weeps on Jesus’ feet, capturing the attention of the all male banquet. They look at her curiously, and Jesus seems to be in the process of defending her and appreciating her gesture. He understood the deeper meaning.
The devotion of the gesture, the deep demonstration of love and surrender… She is doing what none of the men are willing to do: prostrating herself and receiving glory by offering herself through her tears. Her body is the vehicle of her truth, but it is her soul that leads the way.
As I start to paint this gesture of devotion, I am meditating on what it is to love someone deeply. How do we let go of past fears and hurts, and learn to see the divine on other human beings? How do we learn to accept the balance of virtues and defects as the whole of a person, a being who is growing and struggling and trying as best as possible to develop into something more?
We could start by identifying and reducing judgment as a tiny step towards loving more and growing ourselves.
In these times of unfortunate lack of love in parts of our society, when tribalism is being manipulated to bring out fear and destruction, this gesture of love and devotion is presented a symbol of our capacity for transcendence.
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