Hungry Mirrors

"I have become the original Image freed from its reflection... The chains of my forgetfulness only existed in time... Now, where time rests in the stillness of Eternity, I repose in silence." ~The Magdalene's Song, Coptic Gospel of Mary, 3rd C.

Mary Magdalene believed that she must bear
Jesus's child.
She became pregnant by him.
Yet Christ did not fill her womb but her heart,
which grew infinitely round with his image,
like an egg.
She brought her pregnancy to full term
by emptying herself like a mirror
so that she could reflect the Beloved.
Call it Kinosis.
She accomplished this secret work of yearning
in the fertility of silence,
and the deep companionship of solitude.
Thus Mary gave birth to her own anointing.
She exchanged a life of hollow things
for a wholly living no-thing full of bliss.
You too are a Magdalene,
walking on waves of the Moon Path,
keeper of the Sun's likeness.
You too enfold the luminous egg,
finishing the silent work
of mystic motherhood.
It is no small accomplishment in your darkness
to give birth to the radiance of Christ.
The secret beams of your conception
penetrate all other souls.
We are each a hungry mirror, friend,
yearning for reflection,

longing to contain, by means of emptiness,
the beauty of each other’s face.
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This poem is in my book, 'Strangers & Pilgrims,' where it is entitled 'Kenosis.' The word is used in the New Testament and means 'self-emptying.' The Biblical text says that Christ did not become God by exalting himself, but by emptying himself.