After having read The Da Vinci Code and a dissertation for a PhD. asserting that Mary Magdalene held a significant amount more importance in the ancient Bible times than she was given credit for, I've grown rather fond of her. It has been postulated that she (A) was never a prostitute (B) was from a wealthy family (C) was actually "the beloved disciple" (D) wrote the 4th gospel John (E) might have been a black woman from Egypt (F) was married to Jesus and (E) bore Jesus a child. One thing is for sure: she was at every significant activity in Jesus' life.

Now I don't know if any of these things are true, but it is fascinating that biblical and theological scholars are unearthing volumes of ancient history pertaining to Jesus' life and the next 200-300years after his death. They are studying the Divine Feminine. They are questioning patriarchal views and interpretations of biblical data. In other words, they are becoming open-minded in finding out the truth about women of the Bible.

There are several Mary's in the Bible. At times, they are often referred to by just the name Mary. We do not know if it was the same Mary each time she is mentioned. There was a Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary the Mother of Jesus and reference in the New Testament to other Mary's. John's "Mary" had 7 demons cast out of her and speculation is that Mary Magdalene was, indeed, that Mary. And the seven demons were said to have represented the 7 Deadly Sins……but that is another deevotional.

I, too, am fascinated by Mary. I study her not because I need to prove anything but because I believe she was probably the first woman I can relate to: misunderstood, questioned, cast-out, independent, and passionately devoted to the true meaning of being involved in something worthwhile.

It makes no difference to my spiritual beliefs if any of the above facts are true about her. That is why all of this uproar is puzzling to me. I am firm in my faith that Jesus' message of love, compassion and grace is sufficient no matter who he hung out with, ate with, blessed, healed, preached to or slept with.

Regardless of how history portrays her, rest assured, she was a vital part of the early church: so much so, that the founding fathers of our religion found it necessary to downplay her role in Jesus' life and make changes to her contributions to "protect" their current culture.

That alone is enough for me.