"THE OTHER MARY"

Glen Orchy and Southern Highland Hills

I have been reading "The Three Marys" by Edward Dennett, online at The Three Marys, which is very good.  He comments that they, Mary, the mother of the Lord, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene, are not the only Marys.  So I started thinking about one who is noted as "the other Mary" in Matthew 27: 61 and 28: 1.  My father used to quote: "It takes more grace than I can tell to play the second fiddle well"; it takes more grace to be "the other ...".  Here are some thoughts (in a sonnet and a half):

One Mary was the mother of our Lord,

Whose subject spirit made her apposite

To bear and care for Him; and thus a sword

Entered her soul; God saw one who was fit.

One Mary sat before the Master's feet

Steeped in His word; and bowed in high regard

At Jesus' feet; and, last, as one replete

With grace, anointed Jesus' feet with nard.

One Mary knew the Saviour's grace expel

Demons; she followed Him to minister

To Him. Through grief and joy she would be well

With Him.  So she became His messenger.

There was "the other Mary"; she was where

He was in Galilee; and there to stand

Beside the cross; there sitting to observe

The place where He was laid; and there at hand

Beside the tomb; when He hailed she was there;

And there to go as sent by Him to serve.

So, conscious of a love that does not vary,

Although the path is smooth or rough or scary,

Be there for Jesus like "the other Mary".