Today’s scripture: Mark 15:40-41 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Kristin Lee):
Today’s scripture names some of the women who were present at Jesus’ death and alludes to the presence of many unnamed others. Does it matter that the unidentified women are a nameless and faceless gathering of supporters, not featured as Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Salome? Is their presence any less important? I don’t think so.
When I was in college, my friends and I bought some groceries for a single mom with two small children. It was our way of spreading the Christmas spirit with strangers. We didn’t even know the family’s name. I had simply gotten the address of a needy family from my internship supervisor at the local child services office.
My friends loaded up the car with pasta noodles, sauce, fruit juice, cereal and canned vegetables and drove to the recipient’s apartment. Under the cloak of night, we left the food outside the door with a card “From Santa and his elves.” We knocked loudly to get the family’s attention and ran. The mother followed us outside, and we hid in the parking lot until she left to gather her food.
Years later, after we were out of college, one of the friends began working in the social services field and ran across the mother we had helped. She was able to identify the mother, who still didn’t know who we were, by the card from Santa we had left. The mother said she’d been praying for a way to feed her family and then heard a loud knock — our knock — on the door.
The chance of becoming famous and being featured by name in books or magazines is small. I’ll go so far as to suggest that we’ve all had moments, some longer than we’d like, where we’ve identified more with an extra than the featured star, even in our own lives. But our level of notoriety does not define the importance of our actions or our souls. We are more than a job evaluation, a performance review, or a health assessment. We may be part of a nameless and faceless gathering of supporters on this Earth, but we have showed up and made a difference, and we are in great company.
Thought for the day: What can I do to be present for someone else who needs the support I either wish I had or am grateful for?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.