For centuries, scholars only had one version of the life of Margery Kempe, an English mystic who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries — until a ping pong match revealed her story in her own words. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.orgEmail us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Hey there, Consider This listeners. We're not normally in your ears on Saturdays, but today we've got a special bonus episode for you. It's the first in our new series of short-form audio documentaries. It's got medieval monks, rapturous crying fits, ping pong, and a little bit of time travel. So stick around for Saturday, February 8th. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.
It's Consider This from NPR. What if you could pick up the phone and call the past? Today's story does just that. It's brought to us by the Berlin-based producer Sara Zare Hushiori Ha. This is Marjorie.
Recently I've been thinking about what it would be like to call Marjorie Kemp. How would I talk to someone who lived over 500 years ago? Hey Marge. Hello Mrs. Kent. Hi this is Sarah.
Marjorie.
Hi Marjorie.
Marjorie.
We haven't met. Also you're dead. I would like to tell her about this monk. His name was Winkender Ward. And after her death, he took the liberty to republish a few pages of her book. And he called it a short treatise of contemplation. We don't know what else she wrote about in her book, but he references it, and so we know that it existed at some point.
And in his treatise of contemplation, he describes her, Marjorie Kemp. And he describes her as a very quiet person. A good Christian woman who worships Jesus on her own terms. A good wife. A good mother. A calm listener. And that's about all that we knew about Marjorie Kemp. She was a devout, quiet Christian who had 14 kids and lived in a small village in England called Kingsland.
And then I would like to tell her about this ping pong match that happened in the 1930s, also in England. But I guess first I would have to explain what ping pong is. So it's a game that's usually played by two to four people and each person holds a paddle in their hand and you try to play so that the other person can't get to the ball in time.
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