A gospel, as old and as authentic as any of the gospels that now make up the Christian bible, was buried deep in the Egyptian desert after an edict was sent out in the 4th century to have all copies of it destroyed. Fortunately, some rebel monks were wise enough to refuse-and thanks to their disobedience and spiritual spunk, we have several ancient manuscripts of the only gospel that was written in the name of a woman- The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.
This gospel tells a very different love story from the one we've come to refer to as Christianity. This gospel says that we are not sinful; we are not to feel ashamed for being human. In fact, each person's purpose is to be fully human, to be a "true human being"-that is, a person who has remembered that she is also divine. This divinity is not something we will ever receive through confession or absolution from relationships or institutions outside of us; rather, this "child of true humanity" exists within us, inside our own heart. And all we need to do is to turn inward; to meditate, like Mary Magdalene, in the way her gospel directs us to see the radical presence of love all around us; and to allow that vision to change everything.
