John 20: 15-18
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Lectio (taking a bite):What I said yesterday about the gardener.. 
What is the deal with translating Rabboni? Why use it instead of Teacher in the first place?
“Do not hold onto me..” Hmmm..
Meditatio (chewing on the story): There are a number of smaller mysteries within this larger Mystery of the resurrection, and I (and probably others) default to immediately trying to decode or solve those mysteries. I’m wanting to go to specific reference books and commentaries. But, while those references could tell me cultural information that might prove relevant to much scripture, it probably would not help much here.
John was writing down a story that had also been been told by many others. In this story for instance, he is reliant on Mary, or someone who knew Mary’s story, for information. Stories get told, and are heard, but not laboriously studied. They rejected or accepted and when they are accepted it with all of the accompanying incongruities, inconsistencies, and illogicalities.
We are used to arguments- where one side or the other “wins.” The whole “industry” of scriptural apologetics speaks to this human proclivity. Whoever piles on the most “facts” “wins.”
If we are to follow Jesus, then I (for one) am willing to follow both Jesus or the gardener in whom the spirit of Jesus dwells. I am willing to follow Mary in whom the spirit of Jesus dwells. Initially, the gardener will look like a gardener and Mary will look like Mary, but when the speak my name I will hear it way that they are sharing a voice with another.
Oratio (savoring the essence): The essence of these few paragraphs- the part of this scripture which “tastes” best, is the spicy, intriguing weirdness of it. I love that Jesus Christ has become Gardener Christ and Mary Christ (Ok, yesterday I opened a door of wild speculation which I am comfortable enough with today that I am keeping it open.) These are the first two pieces in the complex body of Christ which now has existed through time and geographical space.
Contemplatio (digesting the word and allowing it to nurture the body): Jesus was the word made flesh. So also became the gardener and Mary- because of Jesus! So I have also become, because of Jesus and the gardener and Mary and, and, and, and, and, millions of others. We are the Body of Christ. And, I daresay, that Body also includes people who don’t know Jesus’ name.
*‘ ‘The Risen Christ with the Two Marys in the Garden Of Joseph of Aramathea’, lliam Holman Hunt (1827-1910) . This is NOT a favorite painting of mine, however it does demonstrate the desire that so many have to somehow express this story- this story that defies logical thinking. Artists are sometimes best prepared to do this.
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Even not-so-good artists try to do this.
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and here’s one of my least favorite Easter songs in a very odd presentation..
