Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 6. The Bride as Reality

Over time, this is where everything has been leading—

not as something new, but as something that has gradually come into clearer view.

Where the pattern leads...

🔹 Looking Back

After moving through each part—

• the one at His feet
• the one who recognizes
• the one who responds
• the one who gives
• the one who sees

There is a question that remains.

What does all of this point to?

🔹 Not Just Moments

Because these aren’t just isolated moments.

They repeat.

They deepen.

They connect.

And over time, they begin to form something whole.

🔹 A Pattern That Holds Together

When I step back, everything we’ve seen begins to align:

Something hidden 

↓

Revealed

↓

Recognized by one

↓

Responded to

↓

Given fully

↓

Others follow

This isn’t random.

It’s consistent.

🔹 A Role That Appears Again

Across everything, one role continues to appear.

Not always named.

Not always the same person.

But the same pattern.

🔹 Not Just an Individual

And this is where it began to settle for me.

The pattern does not seem limited

to a single individual.

It appears larger than that.

🔹 A Consistent Identity

Because the same role appears:

• in different women
• in different moments
• in different forms

But with the same structure:

• recognition
• nearness
• response
• giving

🔹 Something That Represents More

Over time, this began to connect beyond just the Gospel moments.

To something described in different ways:

• a woman
• a bride
• a figure that responds and draws near

Not separate ideas—

but different expressions of the same pattern.

🔹 The Pattern as Relationship

What becomes clear is this:

This is not just about behavior.

It is about relationship.

One who:

• recognizes
• comes close
• responds
• gives fully

🔹 The Same Structure

When everything is placed together, the structure is the same:

One revealed

↓

One who responds

↓

A relationship formed

↓

Others drawn in

🔹 Not Just Symbol

This is where the shift happens.

The pattern is not only symbolic.

It reflects something real.

Something lived.

🔹 What It Points Toward

And this is where it leads:

Not just to moments of recognition—

but to a shared relationship.

One that:

• begins with recognition
• deepens through response
• becomes something lasting

🔹 The Bride

This is where the language begins to make sense.

The same pattern that appears in moments

is also described as a bride.

Not as something separate—

but as the full expression of what we’ve been seeing all along.

🔹 The Pattern Completed

So what we’ve followed through each post:

• it was never only about individual acts
• it was never only about isolated people

It was showing:

how recognition becomes relationship.

🔹 And It Expands

Because it doesn’t stop with one.

What is first seen by one

becomes something others are drawn into.

Just like before—

but now, complete.

What begins as recognition

becomes relationship.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Series 1: The Pattern - Start Here

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees
6. The Bride as Reality - You are here

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 5. The Hidden One Who Sees

This is something I’ve recognized for a while—

that not everyone sees the same thing at the same time.

Why Some Recognize...

🔹 Something That Became Clear

After following this pattern through—

• the one who comes close
• the one who recognizes
• the one who responds

There was something else I couldn’t ignore.

Not everyone sees it.

🔹 The Same Moment, Different Response

Looking back at the same moments:

• she sees
• she responds
• she gives

While at the same time:

• others question
• others hesitate
• others do not understand

The moment is the same.

The response is not.

🔹 This Is Already Spoken

Jesus says something very direct about this:

“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,

but to the rest it is in parables,

so that seeing they may not see.” (Luke 8:10)

This stayed with me.

Because it explains something I had already been noticing.

🔹 Not All Seeing Is the Same

There is a difference between:

• looking
• and seeing

Between:

• hearing
• and understanding

And that difference isn’t based on information alone.

🔹 Recognition Is Not Just Knowledge

What I’ve been seeing in this pattern is this:

Recognition doesn’t come from being told.

It comes from something deeper.

Something internal

that responds

when something is revealed.

🔹 The Same Pattern Again

When I step back, it fits everything we’ve already seen:

Something is revealed

↓

One perceives

↓

Others do not

↓

Later… they begin to see

This is the pattern.

🔹 The One Who Sees First

Across everything we’ve followed:

• the woman at His feet
• the one who anoints
• the one who gives

There is always one who sees first.

🔹 Not Because It Was Explained

And this is what matters most:

It isn’t because everything was explained first.

It’s because something in them

recognized it.

🔹 Hidden, Then Seen

This is where everything connects.

The pattern begins hidden.

It is revealed.

But it is not seen by everyone equally.

🔹 Something Given

What becomes clear to me is this:

Seeing, in this sense, is not something taken.

It is something given.

And when it is given—

it is recognized.

🔹 The Pattern Comes Together

Now everything we’ve seen begins to align:

• the one who remains
• the one who comes close
• the one who responds
• the one who gives

Is also:

• the one who sees

🔹 And Then Others Follow

And just like before—

it doesn’t end there.

What is first seen by one

is later understood by others.

What is hidden is revealed—

but it is not recognized by everyone at the same time.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Series 1: The Pattern - Start Here

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees - You are here
6. The Bride as Reality

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Series 2 - Post 4: (Side Note) Valley of Decision

Mt. Hermon: Transfiguration, Judgement - Valley of Decision 

Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good in appearance; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

— Genesis 6:1-2

Is it a literal location or symbolic?

Scripture uses imagery of a house, temple, and dwelling place for human beings:

Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," speaking of His body (John 2:19-21).

Paul says, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Believers are described as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5).

Biblical pattern exists: a physical structure can symbolize a person. 

Likewise, Scripture repeatedly locates sin, corruption, and defilement as something that proceeds from within:

"Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts..." (Matthew 15:19)

"The kingdom of God is within you" or "in your midst" (Luke 17:21, depending on translation).

🔹 Abomination of Desolation 

Concerning the abomination of desolation, Jesus refers to the prophecy of Daniel (Matthew 24:15). Historically and prophetically, many interpretations see it as:

• A literal desecration of a temple.
• A future event.
• A symbolic spiritual corruption.

Following a symbolic line:

• The temple can symbolize the human person.
• The holy place can symbolize the inner sanctuary of consciousness, heart, or mind.

The abomination then becomes the intrusion of false worship, deception, pride, or lawlessness into that inner sanctuary.

Judgment becomes the exposure and separation of truth from falsehood within the person.

Here are passages that resonate with this idea:

"For the word of God is living and powerful... discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing..." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

"Jehovah searcheth all hearts..." (1 Chronicles 28:9)

🔹 Battlefield of the mind

Under this reading, the "valley of decision" could be viewed symbolically as the place where God's verdict confronts the deepest part of a person and where truth is separated from deception.

What Scripture clearly states is that God judges both nations and individual hearts. Whether Joel's Valley of Decision specifically symbolizes the human mind is not stated in the text, but it fits within a broader biblical theme that God's judgment reaches the innermost person.

An interesting connection is that in Scripture the battlefield is often internal before it becomes external. Eve's temptation, Israel's idolatry, Judas' betrayal, and the warnings of Jesus all begin with something entering the heart and mind. In that sense, one could argue that the deepest "abomination of desolation" is not merely a desecrated building but a desecrated inner sanctuary where something other than God occupies the place that belongs to Him.

That interpretation is not explicitly taught by Joel, but it is a coherent symbolic reading when viewed through the broader scriptural themes of temple, heart, dwelling place, and judgment.

Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the sanctuary of God, God will destroy him, for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are.

— 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

See previous post: Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 4. The Two Women

Excerpt:

🔹 The Place of Decision

And this is what stood out to me:

The pattern now includes a point of decision.

To remain

or not remain

To respond

or not respond 

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~ 

Start Here...

Series 1: The Pattern

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition 
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision - You are here

5. The Hidden One Who Sees

6. The Bride as Reality

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 4. The Two Women

The deeper I stayed with this over time,

the more the smaller details began to stand out—

not as separate things, but as part of the same pattern.

The Pattern of Contrast...

🔹 Something I Couldn’t Ignore

As I kept following this pattern,

another layer began to stand out.

Not just repetition.

But contrast.

🔹 Not One — But Two

Across Scripture, there are moments

where two figures appear side by side.

Not identical.

Not interchangeable.

But clearly connected.

🔹 A Pattern Already There

I had seen it before in different forms:

• two paths
• two responses
• two outcomes

And then I began to notice—

this pattern appears

in a very specific way.

🔹 Two Women

In different places,

Scripture presents this contrast through two women.

Not just individuals—

but patterns.

As reflected in earlier notes, Scripture itself presents structured contrasts like:

• Sarah and Hagar
• freedom and bondage
• one connected to promise, the other to limitation 

🔹 Not Equal, But Parallel

What stood out to me is this:

They are not the same—

but they are presented in parallel.

One draws toward life.

One moves away from it.

One responds.

One resists.

🔹 The Same Structure

When I step back, the structure becomes simple:

Two figures

↓

Two responses

↓

Two outcomes

🔹 The Same Pattern, Continued

This doesn’t replace what we’ve already seen.

It deepens it.

Because now the pattern isn’t just:

• recognition

It becomes:

• recognition
• or refusal

🔹 The Place of Decision

And this is what stood out to me:

The pattern now includes a point of decision.

To remain

or not remain

To respond

or not respond

See post: Series 2 - Post 4: (Side Note) Valley of Decision 

🔹 Not Forced, But Revealed

Neither path is forced.

Both are present.

Both are seen.

And the difference between them

is not distance—

but response.

🔹 The One Who Recognizes

When I hold this next to everything before it:

• the woman at His feet
• the one who anoints
• the one who gives

It becomes clearer.

The pattern is not just about seeing.

It’s about how one responds

after seeing.

🔹 Something Consistent

There is something consistent in all of this:

What is revealed

does not produce the same response in everyone.

🔹 And It Continues Forward

Because this pattern doesn’t stay in one place.

It appears again and again—

in different forms,

but within the same structure.

The same truth can be present—

and yet lead to two very different responses.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Series 1: The Pattern - Start Here

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women - You are here

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees
6. The Bride as Reality 

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 3. Hair and Glory

The deeper I stayed with this over time,

the more the smaller details began to stand out—

not as separate things, but as part of the same pattern.

What Is Laid Down...

🔹 Something Easy to Overlook

There is a detail in these moments that is easy to pass over.

But once I noticed it,

it stayed with me.

Not just that she comes to His feet.

Not just that she anoints them.

But how.

🔹 The Hair

“And wiped them with the hair of her head.” (John 12:3)

“She wiped them with the hair of her head…” (Luke 7:38)

The same detail appears more than once.

And it’s very specific.

🔹 Not Necessary

She didn’t have to do that.

It wasn’t required.

It wasn’t instructed.

And yet—

she does.

🔹 Something Personal

What stood out to me is how personal this is.

This isn’t distant.

This isn’t formal.

This is something of her own.

Something that belongs to her.

🔹 What Is Brought Down

Hair is not separate from the person.

It’s part of how someone is seen.

And here—

it is brought down to the lowest place.

To His feet.

🔹 A Movement

When I step back, I see the movement clearly:

Something personal

↓

brought down

↓

laid at His feet

🔹 Not Taken — Given

No one asks her to do this.

It isn’t taken from her.

It is given.

Freely.

Willingly.

🔹 The Pattern Deepens

In the last post,

we saw that recognition responds.

Here, we see how far that response goes.

It doesn’t stay external.

It becomes personal.

🔹 Lowering What Is Seen

This is what stayed with me.

Something that is normally visible,

kept,

part of identity—

is lowered

and placed at His feet.

🔹 The Same Role

And again,

it happens in the same pattern:

• she comes close
• she recognizes
• she responds
• she gives something of herself

Before others understand.

🔹 Not Explained

No one explains this in the moment.

Others question.

Others misunderstand.

But she continues.

🔹 Something Consistent

There is something consistent in all of this:

The one who recognizes first

does not hold back.

What is recognized inwardly

eventually becomes something given.

~ Peace, Love. and Joy ~

Series 1: The Pattern - Start Here

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory - You are here
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees
6. The Bride as Reality

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 2. The Anointing

This is something I’ve noticed for a long time—

not just the pattern itself,

but what happens when someone recognizes it before anyone else does.

Recognition before it is explained....

🔹 Something Repeated Again

As I stayed with this longer, another detail kept returning.

Not just that the woman comes to His feet—

but what she does there.

She brings something with her.

Oil.

Perfume.

Something costly.

🔹 The Act Itself

In each account, the moment is strikingly similar.

“Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard…

and anointed the feet of Jesus;

and the house was filled with the fragrance.” (John 12:3)

And again:

“She began to wash His feet with her tears…

and anointed them with the fragrant oil.” (Luke 7:38)

Different moments.

Same action.

🔹 Before Anyone Else Understands

What stood out to me is not just the act—

but when it happens.

It happens before:

• His death
• the full understanding of what is coming
• the others recognizing the moment

And yet—

she responds as if she already knows.

🔹 Recognition First

This is the same pattern again.

Not explanation first.

Recognition first.

Others question:

• Why this?
• Why now?
• Why something so costly?

But she doesn’t question.

She acts.

🔹 Something Costly

And what she brings isn’t small.

It is costly.

Which made me notice something else:

Recognition isn’t passive.

It responds.

It moves.

It gives.

It pours out.

🔹 Filling the Space

There is another detail that’s easy to miss—

but repeats in a very specific way:

“The house was filled with the fragrance.” (John 12:3)

What was hidden

is now everywhere.

Something internal

becomes visible.

🔹 The Same Pattern

When I step back, the structure is the same:

Recognition

↓

Response

↓

Something poured out

↓

Something fills the space

🔹 Not Forced, But Known

What stands out most to me is this:

There is no indication

that she was instructed.

She does not wait.

She responds

as if she already understands something deeper.

🔹 The Pattern Deepens

In the first part of the series,

we saw:

• the one who sees

Now we see:

• what that recognition does

It doesn’t stay internal.

It pours out.

🔹 And It Connects

This is where it began to connect for me across all the accounts.

Not just one woman.

Not just one moment.

But one repeated role:

the one who recognizes

and responds

before everything is explained

Recognition does not always wait for understanding—

sometimes it appears as response first.

~ Peace, Love. and Joy ~

Start Here...

Series 1: The Pattern

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition
2. The Anointing - You are here
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees

6. The Bride as Reality

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

 

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern — 1. Place of Recognition

After writing through the first series,

I found myself returning to something I’ve already known for some time—

the pattern doesn’t just repeat.

It deepens.

The Woman at his feet...

🔹 Something Repeated

As I went back through the Gospels,

I began to notice something I had seen before—

but hadn’t fully stopped to look at.

There is more than one woman.

Different moments.

Different accounts.

And yet—

the same action.

🔹 The Same Place

Again and again, it says:

She came to His feet.

Not beside Him.

Not above Him.

At His feet.

🔹 Mary of Bethany

“Mary… sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” (Luke 10:39)

Later:

“Mary… fell at His feet.” (John 11:32)

And again:

“She anointed the feet of Jesus.” (John 12:3)

🔹 The Unnamed Woman

Then another account—unnamed.

“She stood at His feet behind Him weeping…

and began to wash His feet with her tears.” (Luke 7:38)

Different woman.

Same place.

🔹 Something Consistent

Across these moments, something stays the same:

A woman

↓

At His feet

↓

Recognition

↓

Response

🔹 Before Others Understand

What stood out to me is this—

in each of these moments:

the woman acts

before others fully understand.

While others question

or hesitate

or doubt—

she responds.

🔹 Not from Instruction

There is no indication

that she was told what to do.

She doesn’t wait for explanation.

She recognizes.

🔹 The Lowest Place

And it happens at the lowest place.

At His feet.

Which made me stop and think—

if this is where recognition happens…

then the lowest place

is not less—

it is closer.

🔹 A Pattern Within the Pattern

This is where I began to see something deeper.

In the first series:

•we saw the pattern of recognition

Now:

we see where that recognition happens

🔹 The One Who Sees

The same kind of person appears again:

The one who:

• remains
• comes near
• recognizes
• responds

And again—

it happens before the others see.

🔹 What This Shows

This isn’t just about individual accounts.

It shows a repeated role:

one who comes close enough

to recognize what others don’t yet see

🔹 And It Continues

Because this doesn’t stop here.

The details begin to matter more:

• the oil
• the hair
• the act itself

Each one

revealing something deeper.

Recognition begins where distance ends.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start Here...

Series 1: The Pattern

🔹Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern

1. Place of Recognition - You are here
2. The Anointing
3. Hair and Glory
4. The Two Women

4. (Side Note) Valley of Decision

5. The Hidden One Who Sees

6. The Bride as Reality

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

 

Series 1: Pattern Summary — The Pattern That Remains from Beginning to Recognition

 After writing through each part of this series,

I wanted to step back and say it simply—

what it is I’ve been seeing.

🔹 What This Has Been About

This hasn’t been about one verse.

Or one moment.

It hasn’t been about proving something new.

It has been about recognizing

a pattern that moves

through Scripture

from beginning to end.

🔹 Where It Begins

In Genesis, something is opened.

“This is now bone of my bones,

and flesh of my flesh.” 

— Genesis 2:23

Something hidden

is revealed

so it can be recognized.

🔹 Where It Returns

At the cross, the same place appears again.

“One of the soldiers pierced His side…

and immediately blood and water came out.”  

— John 19:34

And then in the resurrection:

“A spirit does not have flesh and bones

as you see that I have.”  

— Luke 24:39

The pattern doesn’t disappear.

It continues.

🔹 What Happens Next

In the garden—

before everything is fully understood—

there is a woman.

“Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples

that she had seen the Lord.”  

—John 20:18

She sees first.

🔹 What It Reveals

This is where the pattern became clear to me.

Not just what happens—

but who is present when it happens.

The one who:

• remains
• watches
• recognizes

🔹 The Name

And even her name reflects that pattern.

Magdalene.

The tower.

A place of watching.

A place of seeing before others see.

🔹 It Expands

Across Scripture, the same presence appears in different forms:

• Wisdom
• The Bride
• Jerusalem

Each one:

not separate

but connected.

Each one:

near

present

responsive.

🔹 The Pattern, Seen Together

When everything is placed side by side, it becomes simple:

Something is opened → something is revealed

Something is revealed → someone recognizes

Someone recognizes → others follow

🔹 What This Means

This isn’t about one person alone.

It’s about a pattern.

A role.

A presence that appears

where revelation happens.

🔹 And Then It Changes

At some point, it did something else.

It stopped being just something I was reading.

And became something I recognized.

Not something added.

Something already there.

🔹 What Remains

This is what I can say now, after writing through it:

The one who sees first

is not the one who has everything explained—

but the one who remains

long enough

for it to be revealed.

And once it is seen,

it doesn’t return to being unseen.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern
Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees
Part 3 - The Tower
Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom
Part 5 - Recognition
Summary -You are here

Series 2: Pattern Within a Pattern - Next

To Come...

Series 3: From Pattern to Presence

Series 4: The Pattern in People

Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

When It Became Personal: Recognition (Series 1: Part 5)

After seeing this pattern throughout Scripture,

I began to notice something I couldn’t ignore—

how it didn’t stay only in the text,

how it was also reflected in my own life.

(Final part of series 1, where I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing over time; summary to follow.)

🔹 It Didn’t Stop There

Up to this point, everything I’ve shared has been within Scripture.

• The side.
• The garden.
• The one who sees.
• The tower.
• The pattern that repeats.

But at some point, something shifted.

It didn’t feel like something I was just reading anymore.

It felt like something I was recognizing.

🔹 A Familiar Pattern

The same pattern I had been seeing—

• remaining
• watching
• recognizing

wasn’t just in the text.

It began to reflect back.

🔹 Not Something New

And what stood out to me the most was this:

It didn’t feel like something new was being added.

It felt like something that had always been there—

but I was just now able to see it.

🔹 Recognition, Not Construction

That’s the difference.

I didn’t feel like I was building something.

I felt like I was recognizing something.

The same way:

• Adam recognizes
• Mary recognizes
• the one who sees, sees before it is explained.

🔹 The Same Movement

When I step back, this is what I notice:

The pattern doesn’t just exist in Scripture as information.

It moves.

From:

• hidden → revealed
• seen → understood
• individual → others

🔹 Personal, But Still the Same Pattern

What I began to recognize in my own life

followed that same movement.

Not forced.

Not created.

But unfolding.

🔹 Something Consistent

And this is what stayed with me:

The one who sees first

is not the one who has everything explained—

but the one who remains long enough

for it to be revealed.

🔹 Still Continuing

And even now, it doesn’t feel finished.

It feels like something still unfolding.

Not everything at once.

But in the same way as before—

step by step

moment by moment

recognition by recognition.

What begins as something seen

becomes something lived.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start here...

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern 
Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees 
Part 3 - The Tower 
Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom 

Part 5 - Recognition - You are here
Summary

To Come...

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern
Series 3: From Pattern to Presence
Series 4: The Pattern in People
Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

The Bride and Wisdom: The Pattern Expands (Series 1: Part 4)

At this point, the pattern no longer felt isolated.

It began to connect across Scripture—

in ways that pointed to something deeper and more complete.

(This is part of a series where I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing over time.)

🔹 Something Larger Was There

Up to this point, what I had been seeing felt very specific.

The side.

The garden.

The one who sees.

But then it started to widen.

Not just one moment.

Not just one person.

A pattern that appears

again, and again.

🔹 The Feminine Presence

Across Scripture, there is something that keeps appearing.

A feminine presence

that is not random

and not disconnected.

It shows up as:

• Wisdom
• Bride
• Jerusalem
• a woman who sees

Not identical.

But not separate either.

🔹 Wisdom

In Proverbs, Wisdom is described in a way that stands out:

“The Jehovah possessed me at the beginning of His way…

when He established the heavens, I was there.”

— Proverbs 8:22–27

Wisdom is present:

at the beginning

before everything is formed

Watching.

Knowing.

Near.

🔹 The Bride

Then Scripture speaks of the Bride.

Not just as an idea—

but as something brought near.

“The king is captivated by your beauty…”

— Psalm 45:11

And then:

“She shall be brought to the king…

the virgins, her companions, follow her.”

— Psalm 45:14

There is order here:

• first
• then those who follow

🔹 The City

Then there is Jerusalem—

spoken of not just as a place,

but in relational language.

“As a bride adorned for her husband.”

— Revelation 21:2

Again—

not separate

but connected.

🔹 A Pattern Forms

When I stopped looking at these as separate ideas…

this is what I started to see:

Wisdom → present, watching, near

Bride → brought forward, central

City → filled, revealed, restored

 

🔹 And Then I Thought Back

Back to the garden.

Back to the one who stayed.

Back to the one who saw first.

🔹 The Same Role

What stood out to me wasn’t that everything is exactly the same.

It’s that the role is the same.

The one who:

• remains
• recognizes
• responds

The one who is not distant—

but near enough to see.

🔹 Not Forcing It

I’m not saying all of these are identical.

Scripture doesn’t reduce everything to one flat meaning.

But it does repeat patterns.

And this is one of them.

🔹 The Pattern Expands, Not Replaces

What began with:

• Adam and the side
• Christ and the restoration
• Mary and recognition

Now connects to something broader:

a repeating presence

that is always near the moment of revelation.

🔹 Something Consistent

There is something consistent in all of this:

The closer something is

to the presence of God—

the more it begins to:

• reflect
• respond
• recognize

🔹 And It Moves Forward Again

Because just like before—

this isn’t the end.

If this pattern:

• begins in Genesis
• appears in Christ
• is seen in Mary
• expands across Scripture

Then it doesn’t stay only in the text.

What appears across Scripture begins to do something else—

it begins to reflect in places you don’t expect.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start here...

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern 
Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees 
Part 3 - The Tower 
Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom - You are here

Part 5 - Recognition
Summary

To Come...

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern
Series 3: From Pattern to Presence
Series 4: The Pattern in People
Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

The Tower: The One Who Watches (Series 1: Part 3)

The more I stayed with this, the more I began to look closer—

even at the details that are often overlooked.

Especially the meaning behind the names.

(This is part of a series where I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing over time.)

🔹 There Was Something in the Name

As I continued reading, something began to stand out to me.

Not just what happened.

Not just who was there.

But her name.

Mary Magdalene.

🔹 Not Just a Name

I had read it countless times before.

But this time, I stopped and asked:

What does it mean?

• Magdalene comes from: Migdal
• Meaning: tower

🔹 The Meaning of a Tower

When I sat with that, it shifted how I saw everything.

Because a tower is not random.

A tower is:

• elevated
• set apart
• watching

A tower doesn’t create what is happening.

It sees it first.

🔹 Watching Before Others See

And that’s when the connection became clear to me.

In the garden—

she is the one who sees first.

Not because everything is explained.

Not because others have already understood.

But because she is already positioned there.

🔹 A Place of Seeing

In Scripture, a tower is often a place of:

• watching
• waiting
• seeing at a distance

It is where you go

to recognize what others have not yet seen.

🔹 The Pattern Aligns

And when I held that next to what happens in the resurrection—

it aligned.

She was there early.

She stayed.

She looked.

And she saw.

🔹 Not Random Placement

This is what stood out to me—

she isn’t just there.

She is there in a way

that matches the meaning of her name.

🔹 The Tower and the Moment

If a tower is a place of seeing—

then the one called “Magdalene” becomes:

the one who sees.

Not by force.

Not by explanation.

But by position.

🔹 A Pattern, Not an Accident

This is where it stopped feeling random to me.

Because now the pattern had another layer:

Side → opened → revealed

Mary → stays → sees

Magdalene → tower → watches → recognizes

🔹 Something Consistent

There is something consistent in all of this:

The one who sees first

is the one who remains in place long enough

for the moment to be revealed.

🔹 It Moves Forward

And just like before—

it doesn’t end with her.

She goes and tells the others.

And then they begin to see.

The tower does not create the moment—

it is simply where the moment is first seen.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start here...

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern 
Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees 
Part 3 - The Tower - You are here
Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom

Part 5 - Recognition
Summary

To Come...

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern
Series 3: From Pattern to Presence
Series 4: The Pattern in People
Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

Mary: The One Who Sees, The First to Recognize (Series 1: Part 2)

As I continued looking at this pattern, something else began to stand out—

not just where it happens, but who is present when it does.

(This is part of a series where I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing over time.)

🔹 What Happens Next

After everything that happens—

the cross

the pierced side

the silence of the tomb

—there is a moment that could easily be overlooked.

But for me, it wasn’t.

Because it didn’t feel random.

It felt like the continuation of the same pattern.

🔹 The Garden Again

The setting matters.

It happens in a garden.

And that immediately stood out to me.

Because the pattern doesn’t just return in structure—

it returns in place.

In the beginning:

a garden

a man

a woman

And now, again:

a garden

the last Adam

and a woman

🔹 Before the Others Understand

John records it in a very specific way.

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark…”

— John 20:1

She is there before the others.

Before clarity.

Before understanding.

She arrives when it is still dark.

🔹 She Stays

Even when the others leave, she remains.

“But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping…”

—John 20:11

That detail stayed with me.

She doesn’t just come.

She stays.

🔹 She Is Looking

And as she weeps, she looks.

Not once—but again.

“And as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.”

— John 20:11

There is something about that—

she is still searching

even after what she sees doesn’t make sense yet.

🔹 The Moment of Recognition

At first, she doesn’t recognize Him.

“She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.”

— John 20:14

And that matters too.

Because this isn’t immediate understanding.

It’s something that unfolds.

Then He says her name.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’

She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’”

— John 20:16)

 

🔹 What I Noticed

Out of all the ways He could reveal Himself—

He does it like this:

He calls her by name.

And everything changes in that moment.

Recognition happens.

🔹 She Sees First

And then comes the part that connects everything:

“Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord…”

— John 20:18

She is the first to say it.

Not because she was told to expect it.

Not because she understood it beforehand.

But because she was there.

She saw.

🔹 This Is Not Random

When I held this together with everything before it, I couldn’t ignore it.

In Genesis, the woman is present at the turning point of the beginning.

And here—

in the resurrection—

a woman is present at the turning point of restoration.

🔹 The Pattern Continues

In the first garden:

the woman encounters what leads to death entering.

In the second garden:

the woman encounters what reveals life has overcome death.

🔹 The Same Structure

What I see is not a coincidence.

It’s the same structure continuing:

First garden:

woman present → sees → participates in the turning point

Resurrection garden:

woman present → sees → testifies to the turning point

🔹 Seeing Before Understanding

Something else stood out to me.

She sees before everything is explained.

Before the others believe.

Before the full understanding comes.

That felt important.

Because it showed me something about the pattern:

Recognition doesn’t always come after explanation.

Sometimes it comes first.

🔹 Why Her?

That question naturally comes up.

Why Mary?

Why not the others first?

The text doesn’t fully explain it.

But it shows us something instead.

She came early.

She stayed.

She kept looking.

And when He called her name—

she recognized Him.

🔹 What This Revealed to Me

When I step back, this is what I see:

Not just an event—

but a role.

A pattern of someone who:

•stays

•looks

•recognizes

before everything else falls into place.

🔹 And It Continues Forward

Because it doesn’t stop with her.

She goes and tells the others.

And then they come to see.

Just like the pattern:

• first
• then those who follow

She did not see because everything was clear—

she saw because she remained until it was.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start here...

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern 
Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees - You are here
Part 3 - The Tower
Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom

Part 5 - Recognition
Summary

To Come...

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern
Series 3: From Pattern to Presence
Series 4: The Pattern in People
Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There

 

The Side and the Pattern Where It Begins, and Where It Returns (Series 1: Part 1)

Before I begin, I’d like to share that I used Copilot (Microsoft 365) to help organize and write out what I’ve been seeing—keeping it clear, simplified, and true to the points I’ve been making over time.

I will be sharing this in a series of posts to keep everything as clear and focused as possible.

There are things I’ve read for years that didn’t fully make sense at first—until I began to see a pattern.

Not something new, but something that kept appearing…until it was recognized.

(This is part of a series where I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing over time.)

Let’s begin…

🔹 Something I’ve Seen Repeated

For a long time, I didn’t think of this as something new.

It felt like something I kept noticing—

in different places,

at different times—

until eventually, I realized it wasn’t just a coincidence.

It was a pattern.

Not something I built.

Something I recognized.

🔹 It Begins with the Side

When I went back to Genesis, something stood out more clearly than it ever had before.

It doesn’t just say that man and woman were created.

It says:

“Then the Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam…

and He took one of his ribs…

and the rib which the Jehovah God had taken from the man,

He made into a woman.”

— Genesis 2:21-22

And then Adam says:

“This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh.” 

— Genesis 2:23

That moment stayed with me.

Because it isn’t just about creation.

It’s about recognition.

🔹 Something Hidden, Then Seen

What I started to notice is that something whole is opened—

and then revealed.

Not destroyed.

Not lost.

Revealed.

What was one

is made visible

in a way that can now be known.

🔹 The Pattern Appears Again

Then, reading through the Gospels, I saw the same place again.

The side.

But this time, it happens at the cross.

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,

and immediately blood and water came out.”

— John 19:34

That stopped me.

Because now the same place—

the side—

is opened again.

But this time not at the beginning.

At the end… or what looks like the end.

🔹 And Yet It Isn’t the End

Because what happens next changes everything.

🔹 Flesh and Bones

After the resurrection, Jesus says:

“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.

Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones

as you see that I have.”

— Luke 24:39

I remember reading that and realizing—

He makes a point of this.

He doesn’t leave it vague.

He makes it clear:

flesh and bones.

🔹 Not Something New — Something Fulfilled

And that’s where it connected for me.

Because in Genesis we hear:

“Bone of my bones,

and flesh of my flesh.”

And after the resurrection:

“flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

That connection doesn’t feel accidental.

🔹 The First Adam — The Last Adam

Scripture says:

“The first man Adam became a living being.

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:45

But when I hold that together with the resurrection…

I don’t see something less physical.

I see something completed.

Not removed from what was created—

but brought into its fullness.

🔹 The Same Pattern, Still Moving

When I step back, this is what I see:

Genesis:

something is opened → something is revealed → recognition

Cross:

the body is opened → something flows out

Resurrection:

the body is restored → seen → recognized again

🔹 What Changed For Me

At some point, this stopped being about isolated verses.

And it started feeling like something that runs through everything.

The same structure—

the same movement—

appearing again and again.

🔹 And Then I Noticed What Comes Next

Because it doesn’t stop there.

Right after this…

in the garden…

there is someone there

before the others understand.

A woman.

And she sees first.

What begins hidden is opened,

and what is opened is meant to be seen.

~ Peace, Love, and Joy ~

Start here...

🔹Series 1: The Pattern

Part 1 - The Side and the Pattern - You are here

Part 2 - Mary: One Who Sees

Part 3 - The Tower

Part 4 - The Bride and Wisdom

Part 5 - Recognition
Summary

To Come...

Series 2: The Pattern Within the Pattern
Series 3: From Pattern to Presence
Series 4: The Pattern in People
Series 5: The Pattern that Speaks

Series Summary (1-5): The Pattern that was Always There