In this first sermon of the series, Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill introduces the Gospel of Mary — an ancient, recently rediscovered text buried in the Egyptian desert — tracing its history and explaining how it presents a Christianity rooted in inner mastery, the heart as guide, and equal access to the divine regardless of gender or hierarchy. Drawing on theologian Kelly Brown Douglas's concept of despair as the fertile soil of authoritarianism, she holds up Mary Magdalene's act of rising to comfort and reorient the despairing disciples as a model for today, arguing that spiritual groundedness — not compliance or silence — is the faithful response to disorienting times.