Missing Disciple - The Story of Magdalene

 by Dina Sleiman

Twelve, they recorded, although I never actually saw him sit down and count; one, two…five…seven, eight…ten, eleven, twelve. “Yes,” it would seem he said with infinite finality, “twelve will do just fine.” After all, that little replacement stunt with Matthias hardly met their magical expectations.

All I can say with certainty is this, to the tune of faint whispers—Judas’s disgruntled “the holy whore,” Timothy’s tamer “inappropriate,” “misguided,” “appearances you know,”—I sat at Christ’s feet nursing light like mother’s milk.

Muscled from the trough of prostitution, I never looked back, but focused fully on his eyes, those ever-accepting, ever-radiating eyes. I saw in them the gleam of Genesis revisited.

Peter stood back in the crowd, the hood over his head reverberating the echo of that piercing crow, while I wailed with abandon at Christ’s spike-pinned feet. The soft tresses of my hair matted with blood, and crusty brown streaked my gown, until the soldiers couldn’t take it anymore.

They shoved me backwards into a puddle of mud, but I was clean.

And as Timothy sat pouting, as Peter pulled his battered boat off of the blocks in his backyard, gathering and mending his nets, I found the tomb expectantly empty, had the joy of announcing his transcendence.

Then, on Christ’s way to the Father he took a detour—having yet one last unshed layer of humanity. He was drawn to me—knowing I would fall, clutching his ankles, not searching for gaping holes, but anointing his scars with tears.

May you know the joy of an intimate and personal relationship with Christ on this Resurrection Day!

Dina Sleiman writes lyrical stories that dance with light. Most of the time you will find this Virginia Beach resident reading, biking, dancing, or hanging out with her husband and three children, preferably at the oceanfront. Since finishing her Professional Writing MA in 1994, she has enjoyed many opportunities to teach literature, writing, and the arts. She was the Overall Winner in the 2009 Touched by Love contest for unpublished authors. Her first novel, Dance of the Dandelion, will release with Whitefire Publishing in 2011. She has recently become an acquisitions editor for WhiteFire as well. Join her as she discovers the unforced rhythms of grace. For more info visit her at http://dinasleiman.com/