I’m Giving Adam Back His Rib

I’m giving Adam back his rib. He can have the one I broke last month. Yes, I fractured a rib. On the day before my birthday, when I was already kind of freaked out about getting older, I fell. Don’t ask me how; everybody else has already asked and I just don’t know.

At this point, it doesn’t matter. But as I try to take it easy and not move too much or too quickly, I’ve been thinking about ribs.

According to the creation myth in Genesis 2 (NRSV), the first woman was created from a rib taken from the first man.

Then God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then God took one of the man’s ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that God had taken from the man God made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of man, this one was taken.”

I much prefer the translation of The Inclusive Bible, which makes clear that the so-far genderless adam (human being) is made from the adamah (earth).

Then YHWH said, “It is not good for the earth creature to be alone. I will make a fitting companion for it.” So from the soil YHWH formed all the various wild beasts and all the birds of the air, and brought them to the earth creature to be named. Whatever the earth creature called each one, that became its name. The earth creature gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals. But none of them proved to be a fitting companion. So YHWH made the earth creature fall into a deep sleep, and while it slept, God divided the earth creature in two, then closed up the flesh from its side. YHWH then fashioned the two halves into male and female, and presented them to one another. When the male realized what had happened, he exclaimed, “This time, this is the one! Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh! Now, she will be Woman, and I will be Man, because we are of one flesh!”

I also like that it leaves out the rib business. But I’m well aware that this notion of ‘Adam’s rib’ is ingrained in our biblical and cultural psyche. Patriarchy dictates that women are inferior – or at least secondary to men. And unfortunately, patriarchy has been able to look to the Bible for its “God-given” proof.

That’s why I say we give Adam back his rib. I have a broken one he can have.

Better yet, let’s break the patriarchy while we’re at it!

Dismantling Patriarchy in the World’s Religions

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It is true that you will find patriarchy in the Christian scriptures, but you’d be hard pressed to find Jesus promoting it. While we have few of the actual words of Jesus in the gospels, the picture that emerges is of someone who consistently breaks down barriers between insiders and outsiders, including the role of women.

My particular interest is language because I strongly believe that words matter. Words we use for ourselves and for the Divine matter. One of my primary calls to action is to use inclusive language for humankind and expansive language for the Divine. Expansive language simply means that while we don’t eliminate references to Father, Lord, King, etc., we do include a wide variety of other names, words, and images, too.

But as the timeline progresses in the writing of the books Christians call the NT, we can see patriarchy creeping back in and becoming institutionalized. And while many Christian denominations, including my own, do have women in leadership, there is still a lot of work to be done. We’ve made some progress with humanity. For example, one of the creeds we regularly use changed from speaking of Jesus as one “who for us men and our salvation, came down from heaven . . .” to who for us and our salvation . . . and hymns like “Good Christian MenRejoice” became “Good Christian FriendsRejoice.”

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We also do have to pay attention to how words are translated. For example: Junia, who was a woman who served with the apostle Paul. In his letter to the Romans, he commended both Junia and her co-worker Andronicus as “noted among the apostles.” In early Church history, Junia was widely accepted as a woman apostle, but in later translations an “s” was added to the end of her name, making it into the masculine form, Junias. Why? We don’t know. The Revised Standard Version editions read, “Junias (and compatriots) . . . “they are men of note among the apostles.” The inclusion of “they are men” is an addition to the original text. The New Revised Standard Version now reads, “Junia (and compatriots) . . . are prominent among the apostles.” However, a footnote by Junia reads: “or Junias.” 

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This is a perfect illustration of why we need to read biblical texts with a hermeneutics of suspicion. That simply means that we’re mindful that these texts have been largely shaped by male perspectives. So we’re curious about the origin of a text, as well as about the biases of modern interpreters, like those who added “they are men” to the original text. 

Phoebe is another example. In her case, the Greek word diakonos has traditionally been translated deaconess,while in other places the very same word is translated as minister. In the NRSV, the passage from Romans says: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon* of the church” (in footnote: or minister). Better, but we’re not there yet.  

Language for the Divine has been even slower to change. For example, I recently came across an article, in which the author wrote: “I have found that the more I learn about God, His Word and theology which describes Him, the more I can love and worship Him, because now there is that much more to adore and be amazed by. If my ability to worship God is a fire, learning more about Him only adds more wood to the blaze. After all, if you really loved God, wouldn’t you want to learn as much about Him as possible?”

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At that point, I was gone. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not picking on this particular article. It was just the latest example that set me off. When the only pronouns we use for God in church and in our own speech are male, what image do we convey? When we use only “Father” to name the Divine, what are we promoting? It’s obvious; God is male. 

And the patriarchy that is inherent in much of our sacred texts is reinforced by our refusal to dismantle the patriarchy lodged in our church’s hymns, prayers, sermons, and everyday speech.

As a pastor who leads worship in a congregation almost every Sunday, I’m responsible for putting together the order of the service. That means choosing scripture texts, prayers, and other parts of the liturgy. Since liturgy literally means “work of the people,” shouldn’t the language of our liturgy include all the people?! The words we use really do matter. 

And along with “words matter” we have to also recognize that meanings and usage of words may change. For example, it was a major advance when we began saying “brothers and sisters” instead of just “brothers” when reading a passage. Then we had the audacity to reverse the order to “sisters and brothers.” Now, though, we’re learning from our LGBTQ+ friends that it would be better to avoid binary language. So, “siblings” is often used, or “friends,” or my favorite, “beloved.” 

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It’s a work in progress. But an important one as we continue to navigate the language of the church of the 21st century in the midst of the issues of our day. If we’re going to be truly committed to dismantling patriarchy by paying attention to language, then those on the ground planning, writing, and leading worship have to be much more intentional about it.

And even if you’re not responsible for creating the worship service, you can ask, suggest, demand that those who are to be more aware of the issues involved. 

Here’s what you can do:

Actions Items

  • Recognize the spiritual, emotional, and physical violence perpetrated by an entrenched patriarchal system, both within the Church and society in general
  • Recognize the misogyny of many of the early Church leaders and their ongoing legacy.
  • Encourage the reading of scripture with a “hermeneutic of suspicion” which questions traditional interpretations. 
  • Commit to the revision of theologies, teachings, liturgies, and practices to reflect the goodness of all people especially those who have been most impacted by patriarchy
  • Use inclusive language for humankind and expansive language for the Divine in church publications and worship materials.
  • Lift up the true stories of women in the Bible – like Phoebe and Junia.

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Images

http://womensordinationcampaign.org/timeline-links/2020/1/14/junia-a-woman-apostle-named-in-scripture 

https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org 

“God Is Male” by Nina Paley is made available under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

 

 

 

Resources for Dismantling Patriarchy in Christianity

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This is my list for my presentation at the Parliament of the World’s Religions on October 18, 2021. It is by no means exhaustive. I’d love to hear your suggestions for additional resources.

Bible

The Inclusive Bible: the First Egalitarian Translation by Priests for Equality (2009)

The Divine Feminine Version of the New Testament is one of the initiatives of The Christian Godde Project. This new translation of the entire New Testament is now available online free of charge.https://godde.wordpress.com/the-divine-feminine-version-dfv-of-the-new-testament/

Women’s Bible Commentary, Carol A. Newsom, Sharon Ringe, Jacqueline E. Lapsley  (2012)

A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church by Wilda C. Gafney (2021)

An Inclusive Language Lectionary, Years A, B, and C, National Council of Churches (1986-88)

Psalms Anew in inclusive language, Nancy Schreck, OSF and Maureen Leach, OSF (1987)

Inclusive Language

Finding Words for Worship: A Guide for Leaders by Ruth Duck (1995)

Gender and the Name of God: the Trinitarian Baptismal Formula by Ruth Duck (1991)

The Gathering: A Womanist Church: Origins, Stories, Sermons, and Litanies by Irie Lynne Session, Kamilah Hall Sharp, and Jann Aldredge-Clanton

Taught by Love: Worship Resources for Year A. – Lavon Bayler
Led by Love – Worship Resources for Year B
Gathered by Love: Worship Resources for Year C 

Hymnody

Ruth Duck https://ruthduck.com

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette  https://www.carolynshymns.com

Jann Aldridge-Clanton  https://jannaldredgeclanton.com

Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians
Inclusive Hymns for Liberation, Peace, and Justice
Earth Transformed with Music: Inclusive Songs for Worship

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Good Websites

https://feminismandreligion.com

https://giftsinopenhands.wordpress.com

https://michelletorigian.com

The Junia Project.  https://juniaproject.com

Equity for Women in the Church https://equityforwomeninthechurch.org

Names of God – this is a list from Ruth Duck that I found somewhere, but can no longer find the source. I emailed her and got no response, so I’m assuming I can share it. And I continue to add to it.

“Awesome God And Holy Friend” 

“Breath Of Every Living Being” 

“Breath Within Our Breath” 

“Bond Of Peace”

“The Creator”

“Creator Of All Time And Space” 

“Creator Of Us All”

“Faithful God” 

“Fire Of Love” 

“Friend of Friends”

“Friend Of Outcasts” 

“Giver Of Life”

“Glorious Sun” 

“God Ever-Loving”

“God Of Grace”

“God Of Generations”

“God of Journey

Faithful Friend” 

“God Of Planet Moon And Sun” 

“God Of Wisdom”

“God The Loving Gardener”

“Great Spirit Of The Cosmic Whole” 

“Great Spirit And Source Of Birth” 

“Healer”

“Healing Light”

“Healing River of The Spirit” 

“Hokmah (Hebrew for wisdom)” 

“Holy Fire”

“Holy Gardener” 

“Holy of Holies” 

“Holy One” 

“Holy Wisdom”

“Lamp of Learning” 

“Life’s Fountain”

“Light of Every Nation” 

“Like a Midwife” 

“Listening God”

“Living Bread” 

“Living Christ” 

“Living Spirit” 

“Loving God”

“Loving Maker of The Earth” 

“Majestic Creator”

“The Maker” 

“The One”

How about these?

“One God” 

“Our God” 

“Parent”

“Renewing Spirit” 

“Saving Grace” 

“Saving Spirit” 

“She”

“Shepherd God” 

“Shepherd of My Soul”

“Sophia”(biblical Greek for wisdom) 

“Source of Unity”

“Spirit” 

“Spirit God” 

“Spirit-Guide”

“The Spirit of All Good” 

“Sun”

“Teacher”

“True Life of All” 

“Well-Spring of the Healing Spirit” 

“Wisdom/Sister Wisdom”

“Word Embodied 

Word of Life” 

“Colorful Creator”

“God of Mystery” 

“Harmony of Ages” 

“God of Listening Ear” 

“Author of Our Journey” 

“God of Near and Far”

“God of Truth and Beauty” 

“Poet of the Word.”

All-Generous Creativity

Transforming Intimacy 

Divine Creativity 

Creative Potency

Ground and Source of All Being 

Source of Radiance

First Poet 

Poet-Creator

Poet-Maker of all Things 

Aboriginal Beginner

Author of the Cosmic Script 

Primordial Ur-Mystery 

Ultimate Dispatcher

Great Initial Conditioner 

Ultimate Strange Attractor 

Unnamable One

O Most Honored Greening Force – Hildegard of Bingen

“Colorful Creator” 

“God of Mystery” 

“Harmony of Ages”

“Author of Our Journey” 

“Poet of the World”

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“Dismantling Patriarchy” Goes to the Parliament of the World’s Religions

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A Buddhist priest, a rabbi, a Lutheran pastor, a Sufi practitioner, and a Hindu activist walk into the Parliament of the World’s Religions. And that is no joke! We are five women from five religions who are committed to making the world a better place for women and girls. And we will present a workshop at the Parliament entitled “Dismantling Patriarchy in the World’s Religions”.

The Parliament is an online only event this year – which is sad because it’s such a wonderful experience of being with people from all over the world and from an awe-some array of religious traditions. But it’s also a blessing because we don’t have the expense of airfare, hotels, etc. And as we’ve learned from Zoom Church this past year+, it is possible to have a meaningful gathering online.

Here are our fabulous presenters:

Sridevi Ramanathan Headshot

Sridevi Ramanathan presented on Hindu Goddesses at the 2015 Parliament of World Religions as part of the panel, “Diverse Voices of Women’s Spirituality.” She has also presented at the Association of the Study of Women and Mythology and Faith and Feminism conferences. She continues to participate in various interfaith events as a speaker, dancer and artist. 

For years, Sridevi has actively participated in programs and events that give power to girls and women including, “One Billion Rising” and “Take Back the Night.” She founded “Story Digs” through which she conducts talks and workshops based on her scholarly research of mythology and folklore. Sridevi is a founder and facilitator of the “Diversity Circle” at the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living. In addition, Sridevi is one of the women profiled in the book, “Birthing God: Women’s Experiences of the Divine.” 

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Rev. Elaine Donlin  is an ordained Jodo-Shinshu Buddhist priest and serves as BCSF Minister Assistant at Buddhist Church of San Francisco. She leads an innovative monthly Metta Gathering in Shin temples in San Francisco, Mill Valley and Sebastopol, CA. Elaine has been teaching the Essentials of Buddhism course since 2008 and helps guide the temple in social justice endeavors within the larger San Francisco community.

She serves as Buddhist Community Clergy for several SF Hospitals and  provides weekly Meditation and Buddhist teachings in the SF County Jails. She is a current Board member on the San Francisco Interfaith Council and is also a founding member of the BCSF LGBTQ+ group.

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Leili First, Ph.D., a student of Uwaiysi Sufism, is a long-time member of the International Association of Sufism and Sufi Women Organization.

She has given lectures on Sufism at colleges and universities and has been a presenter at the Annual Sufism Symposium in San Rafael, CA and at the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Leili is a member of the program committee of the Building Bridges of Understanding series, a cooperative program between the IAS and Dominican University of California. She has published articles in the internationally-distributed journal, “Sufism: An Inquiry”. She has served on the Marin Interfaith Council, and as an SWO representative at the United Nations meeting of NGOs.

She holds a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies.

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Mychal Copeland is the rabbi at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, a Jewish, LGBTQI-normative community in San Francisco. She was previously the Bay Area Director of InterfaithFamily (now 18Doors), and served for thirteen years as a university Rabbi, first at UCLA and later at Hillel at Stanford University.  Her book, Struggling in Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives (SkyLight Paths, November 2015), grew out of her campus work.  

In 1995, she earned a Masters in Theological Studies and Secondary Teaching Credential from Harvard Divinity School, and a rabbinical degree from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2000. Mychal is the founder of a national Rosh Hodesh (new moon) project for teens, It’s a Girl Thing, that celebrates the monthly lunar cycle and strengthens teen girls’ self-esteem and spirituality with over 100 groups around the country. She co-wrote “Gender and Bible Studies” for the volume, Gender Stratification: Social Construction and Structural Accounts (Ed.Dana Vannoy, Roxbury Press, 2001). Mychal is a certified yoga instructor and fuses Jewish spirituality with movement in her yoga teaching. Her first children’s book is I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book (Apples & Honey Press, m2020). Mychal is passionate about opening the doors of Judaism wider and leading people towards a profound spiritual and religious life that embraces all of their disparate identities.

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And me: I am a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), serving a congregation in Burlingame, CA. I have been involved in interfaith activities both in Western New York and California. I served on the board of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San FranciscoIn and as the interim executive director. In 2005 I received my Doctor of Ministry degree from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. My special interest is intra-faith issues. My book, published in 2015, is “The INTRAfaith Conversation: How Do We Talk among Ourselves about INTERfaith Matters?” My website is https://intrafaithconversation.com.

I presented workshops at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2015 and 2018. I am also one of the women profiled in the book, “Birthing God: Women’s Experiences of the Divine.” 
    

We all We hope you’ll register for the Parliament and join in the ongoing conversation that we plan to continue until we dismantle the religious foundations of patriarchy!

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“Australia II_IWD 2019” by Friends of the Earth International is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0  

Come On, ELCA. This Is Not a Good Start to Implementing “Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action.”

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Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation! Let all who hear now to his temple draw near, joining in glad adoration! (ELW, 858)

Why am I not happy with this post on yesterday’s Facebook page of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? 

I’m glad you asked!

A little background:
Just 8 days ago, the ELCA put out a Summary of Actions taken at the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly on August 5-10. This was posted on the Facebook page of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 15.

If you’re a member of the ELCA,
you really need to read it because A LOT happened at the assembly. 

You’ve probably heard about the decision to declare the ELCA a sanctuary church body. There’s been a lot of press and controversy about this. That was an historic action, to be sure. But wait, there’s more!

A New Social Statement
The third item on the Summary is:

  • Approved the social statement “Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action” and its 190716_womenandjusticeimplementing resolutions. The statement, in part, names patriarchy and sexism as sins and calls the church to action on a range of issues, including gender-based violence, workplace discrimination and economic inequality.

With this addition, the ELCA now has 13 social statements. You can read about them here. I have a particular interest in this latest one. I’m part of a group of women who met together regularly to carefully read and discuss both drafts of the document. We were committed to ensuring that this statement would not become just another dust-collector on a shelf, that congregations would actually read it, discuss it, and put these guidelines into practice. We identified areas where we believed the statement needed to include specific actions to back up its intentions. We finally crafted 3 memorials that were passed at our Sierra Pacific Assembly and forwarded on to Churchwide. 

Memorial #1
We asked for a public statement of repentance for the sins of patriarchy and sexism, as well as establishment of a national day of confession and repentance for the sins of sexism and patriarchy.
Action:
Implementing Resolution #17 directs the ELCA Church Council to establish a process for public repentance regarding the sins of patriarchy and sexism and establish a churchwide day of confession and repentance no later than the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Memorial #2
We asked for the development of training and resources for implementing the social statement. This memorial covered a range of topics, but a large part of our concern was the subject of language. Taking seriously the statement in the document “Words are powerful,” we requested e
ndorsement of an inclusive language Bible; non-gender-biased and inclusive materials for worship including hymnody, adult education, confirmation, and Sunday school; and the use of expansive language for God in worship resources.
Action:
Implementing Resolution #8 calls upon the Conference of Bishops, synods, and the churchwide organization to use gender-inclusive and expansive language for God, and to direct the ELCA worship team a) to use such language whenever it commissions, curates, or develops new liturgical and related educational resources, and (b) to supplement existing resources toward that end, and, (c) to explore the development of an inclusive language lectionary similar to the Psalter in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.” 

Memorial #3
We asked for a New Social Statement on Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Human Sexuality.
Action:
To request the Office of the Presiding Bishop provide materials to facilitate education among ELCA members so as to build awareness of the broad varieties of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation among God’s people, as well as to provide pastoral care insights regarding concerns and issues of the transgender experience and gender nonconformity; and
To request that the Church Council consider authorizing development of a social message on gender identity and gender expression. 

Going forward
All of this was adopted by the Assembly with 97% of the vote. There was very little discussion. I hope I’m wrong, but my concern is that with so much material to read and the number of resolutions and memorials, many voting members didn’t actually read the document. And if they did, I hope they’ll be willing to back it up if and when these issues come before their congregations. We will be closely monitoring implementation of actions by the Church Council and the Office of the Presiding Bishop. We are determined not to allow this important work to be ignored.

Why I said “Not a good start, ELCA.”
In my Facebook post yesterday in response to “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” I said,
“So much for inclusive/expansive language per Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action. Not a good start ELCA.”

Comments have been interesting. Only one in support. Others are more like these:
Perhaps God’s preferred pronouns are, He and Him!
It’s a classic hymn. You’re a bit over sensitive!!! Most classic hymns are from at least 200 years ago & translated to English.
Are you serious?? If so, why??!!!!

Here’s why:
The post on yesterday’s ELCA Facebook page includes two masculine names and three  male pronouns for God. Let me be very clear: I’m not calling for the elimination of Lord and King. Expansive language means just that; you don’t have to take away meaningful names, but you can add the many other ways that we can address the Holy One.

When it comes to the male pronouns, however, I am indeed calling for an end to their use. For far too long, protestations to the contrary, God has been identified as male. This is not an innocuous reality. Words matter. As the document says:

this church holds that exclusive use of a male-oriented formula to refer to God is problematic. The use of expansive language for God reflects faithfulness to God’s self-revelation in the Scriptures and in human experience. 

So, ELCA, I ask again: how was this post a good start to this new call to action? There must be another hymn that could have expressed a similar sentiment. Or – how about checking out a different version? Same tune as “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.”

Sing praise to God, who has shaped and sustains all creation.
Sing praise, my soul, in profound and complete adoration.
Gladsome rejoice – organ and trumpet and voice –
joining God’s great congregation.

Praise God, our guardian, who lovingly offers correction,
Who, as on eagle’s wings, saves us from sinful dejection.
Have you observed, how we are always preserved
by God’s parental affection?

Sing praise to God, with sincere thanks for all your successes.
Merciful God ever loves to encourage and bless us.
Only conceive, what godly strength can achieve:
strength that would touch and caress us.

Sing praise, my soul, the great name of your high God commending.
All that have life and breath join you, there notes sweetly blending.
God is your light! Soul, ever keep this in sight:
amen, amen, never-ending.

I encourage every member of every congregation to read the social statement. Discuss it, even argue about it, as long as you do so with an open mind.
And implement it. It really does matter. 

 

St. Martha: Dragon Tamer

64547315_10162014537730634_2345616991944966144_nI saw this picture on Facebook this week. As you look at it, do you see that the plates are all upside down? All but one. Do you see it? Supposedly, as soon as you do then all the plates will look like they’re right side up. It worked for me. Now whenever I look at it, they’re all right side up. Perception is weird, isn’t it?

Oddly enough, this silly optical illusion reminded me of the story of Mary and Martha. To be honest, I’ve been struggling with the story all week. Here’s another story from the life of Jesus that’s supposed to teach us how to be good disciples. It seems pretty straightforward, rght? But as in the case of so many of these “simple” stories, they get more complex the more we look at them.

I found myself flipping back and forth between Martha and Mary as the focus of the story. If I focused on Mary, the picture looked one way. But if I flipped it around and thought about Martha, the picture changed completely. Back in the day, when women were still fighting for their place in in seminaries and in pulpits, I was all about Mary. She was the role model for all of us who had chosen “a better thing” than the traditional roles society had assigned to us. Jesus himself said so!

Nowadays I find myself a lot more sympathetic to Martha. And I have to say I’m also more critical of Jesus, who seemed to be perfectly OK with coming into Martha’s house and enjoying her hospitality with no regard for the work involved. He could have grabbed Lazarus and said, “C’mon, bro; let’s do the dishes and give Martha a rest.” But with his words releasing Mary from domestic duties, he kinda threw Martha under the bus. So like my feelings for the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, I want to say to Jesus, “Wait a minute, that’s just not fair!”

What’s in Your Spiritual Gifts Inventory?
I do still like that image of Mary siting at the feet of Jesus. The truth is I’ll never be a Martha. On the spiritual gifts inventory, my score for ‘hospitality’ is way down on the list. But I have learned that hospitality is a spiritual gift. And there was a time I know that I had that wrong.

Beatrice was a member of one of my former congregations. She always made the coffee and set out all the accoutrements for coffee hour on Sunday. I noticed she always did this during worship time. One day I asked her about it and she said she really enjoyed doing this work by herself down in the kitchen. I wince when I hear myself telling her that it was more important for her to be upstairs in worship. I had just thrown another Martha under the bus. Although I still hear Jesus whispering in my ear, “Yea, but there’s still need of only one thing.” You see how I flip back and forth: upside down; right-side up?

Finally, it dawned on me. Why does it have to be either/or? We don’t have to portray shutterstock_516056926Martha, as is done so often, as a pinch-faced shrew glaring at her sister from the kitchen and whining to Jesus about all the work she has to do. Nor do we have to think of Mary as a silent figure in this story, one who, as the saying goes, is “so heavenly minded that she’s no earthly good.” In fact, we can recognize that we’ve each got a Martha and a Mary in us. This goes for the guys, too; maybe you could call them Matt and Marty.

We might lean one way more than another. But both are important. Marthas (or Matts) get things done. They’re the people who answered “very true” to statements on the spiritual gifts inventory like:

  • When presented with a goal, I immediately think of steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the desired results.
  • I am a take charge person. When others follow my direction, the goal or task will be completed.

We need people like that in our homes, communities, and churches. But we also need the contemplative Mary (or Matt) to teach us to nurture our spirituality, to be still and listen for God’s “still, small voice,” and to imbue our daily lives with a sense of the sacred. Together these two ways represent a holistic way of discipleship.

god_bless_those_who_serve_those_who_wait_cushion-ra8611baef83b4dfaa30b93dfb9834745_i5fqz_8byvr_307But What About Jesus?
But I’m still troubled by this story. We still have the 
problem of Jesus chastising Martha. His words are completely at odds with what he says 12 chapters later. When the disciples get into an argument about which of them should be considered the greatest, Jesus says: “The greatest among you should become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. Who is greater, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? Isn’t it the one who sits at the table? But I’m among you as one who serves.”

I have to wonder why Luke didn’t say that Jesus then got up to help Martha serve. I mean, what’s going on here?

Now, being a bit of a Mary and liking to read and learn and contemplate, I came across some intriguing things in my travels through various commentaries about Martha and Mary.  For one thing, I was reminded that we need to really read what the text says and not what we might assume is in it. For example, there is no mention of the preparation of food. It’s assumed because for many, that is – and was – women’s work. Of course, this took place in the kitchen, we assume. But it’s not there in the text.

There are those who believe that the house of Martha and Mary was actually a house church and that both women were church leaders. This idea is supported by the fact that in other places, the word in verse 40 (the NRSV says Martha was distracted by her many ‘tasks‘), is διακονίαν, which has been translated as ‘ministry’ for men and as ‘service’ for women. But even Google Translate calls διακονίαν ‘ministry!’ So, it would not be out of the realm of possibility that Martha‘s role was that of an early form of a deacon.

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It’s also not out of then question to see – as we do in other places in the New Testament, written long after Jesus’ death – attempts to restrict women’s activities to traditional ways of serving. In this interpretation, some see Mary described as taking the better part because she passively sits and listens.

Others see both Mary and Martha as church leaders. And Martha’s annoyance with her sister is her anxiety about all her ministerial duties (something anyone involved in the church can relate to) and feeling like she was not getting enough help (also something anyone involved in the church can relate to). What’s the true story? It’s hard to know for sure. There are many differences in the earliest manuscripts of Luke.

So this simple little story stirs up a lot of questions. What this says to me is that we should not take these accounts at face value, that we should dive more deeply into the story behind the story. And when a simple account like this one engenders so much angst among interpreters, preachers, and general readers – we should pay attention. There’s probably something else going on here.

And when we do dive in, we should then crawl around in the story and explore, not only what this translation says, but what other translators have said. How does a word or phrase shift the meaning?  Where else does a character appear? Two friends shared that they had spent some time doing just this by comparing Martha’s appearance here in Luke with her role in John 11 (the raising of Lazarus), where she is hardly a caricature of the over-worked housewife. They also advise checking out information about the town of Bethany, known as a place for healing and hospitality on the way to Jerusalem, which gives even more nuance to the story.

“Yes! I believe that you are the Messiah, the One who is coming into the world.”
worship2014-08-03rev-40-638In the John passage, Martha gives one of the most complete confessions of faith by anyone in the gospels, right in the midst of her grief at losing her brother. She also shows a bit of anger at Jesus’ not getting there in time to save Lazarus, her thoughts about resurrection, and a very practical caution against opening a tomb because of the stench. We see that Martha is a strong character, complex and layered and rich. So is Mary. So is Jesus.

I can envision Jesus listening to Martha as she complains about her lack of help. So when Jesus says, “Martha, Martha,” I don’t hear chastisement.  I hear a connection between two people who know each other well. Jesus knows her anxiety, her distracted emotional state and says, in effect, “I’m listening.” In saying her name, Jesus communicates to Martha, “I hear you, I see you, I’m with you.” Then his words confirm her state of mind: “You’re troubled, distracted, anxious.” He proceeds to remind her about what is most important for that moment, just as we all sometimes need a reminder of when to be a human doing and when to be a human being. But first, he listens.

Maybe we need to sit with this scene just a little longer instead of cutting right to the part about Mary. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate being heard, even if there will also be a word of counsel about what is needful for this moment?

By fleshing out biblical characters like Martha, we do ourselves a favor. For in crawling around in her story, we find connections to our own. We don’t settle for cliched advice like, “Don’t be such a Martha!” Because it’s perfectly OK to be a Martha. Just as it’s OK to be a Mary or a combination of both.71DHHMKDZTL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_.gif

Now, July 29th is St. Martha’s Day, so our celebration is a little early for this disciple who is the patron saint of cooks, homemakers, servants, waiters and waitresses, single laywomen, butlers, dietitians, innkeepers, and travelers. That’s a lot of us! And here’s a tidbit I just learned. The cover of the original 1931 Joy of Cooking was illustrated with an image of St. Martha taming a dragon.

What’s This About a Dragon?!
There’s a legend that Martha eventually moved to a village in France, where it just so happened that a monstrous beast was a constant threat. It is described as a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent. The story goes that Martha, holding a cross in her hand, sprinkled the beast with holy water, which subdued it. While it was rendered harmless, she placed her belt around its neck, and led the tamed dragon through the village.

Obviously, it is a fanciful legend. But it endears Martha to me even more as a strong, faithful, courageous woman, providing a ministry of hospitality and church leadership. July 29th is her day. I just might go out looking for some dragons of my own to tame. Or maybe I’ll make a casserole to share. Either way, it will be in loving memory of Martha.

Amen

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Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks. So she came and asked, Jesus, “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me.”

But Jesus repliued, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girl, Abandoned: My Ongoing Story of Struggle & Healing

It’s a chestnut from the 90s, but it’s become a hymn for me. It never gets old. This Is to Mother You by Sinéad O’Connor is like the voice of God speaking to an emotionally abandoned child.

This is to mother you, 
To comfort you and get you through, 
Through when your nights are lonely, 
Through when your dreams are only blue.  This is to mother you.

Although I do change one word.  
This is to be with you, 
To hold you and to kiss you too. 
For when you need me I will do
What your own mother didn’t couldn’t do, 
Which is to mother you 

God as Mother?
My mother died over 10 years ago, but she still looms large in my psyche. Our relationship had always been pretty complicated, moving through love, anger, compassion, disrespect, hate, forgiveness, love, anger, forgiveness again. It’s still a mixed bag. Years of therapy and spiritual direction have brought me to a much healthier place. I change ‘didn’t’ to ‘couldn’t’ because I’ve come to understand my mother’s own emotional turmoil in my growing up years. In the midst of not getting her own needs met, she wasn’t able to take care of mine. Ironically, my mother’s mother lived with us. You’d think there would have been all kinds of mothering going on. But then, my grandmother had her own story – and so it goes. 

So, as much as I appreciate those who prefer to use feminine imagery for the Divine, I don’t like referring  to God as Mother any more than Father. I’m much more of an  apophatic mystic, resting in the unknowability of God: 
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;                  
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.      
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. 

But, paradoxically, I also rest in the intimacy of God, the One who speaks to my heart and sends love to me through a YouTube music video. Also paradoxically, the song is about mothering. Maybe mother-ing is ok, but not an actual mother (I am nothing if not inconsistent).

Forgiveness and Emotional Scars4870929-Magenta-Periwinkle-Quote-Could-a-scar-be-like-the-rings-of-a-tree
I forgave my mother long ago, but I’ve found that the emotional wound never goes away completely. Like the scar on my leg from a car accident almost 50 years ago that’s still surrounded by tender tissue painful to the touch, it flares up when something in my present life touches it.

I felt it begin to throb again last week when I read a blog post on the Feminism and Religion website entitled “Lessons Mothers Might Teach Their Daughters.” It wasn’t so much the content of the post (although it’s a very good article); it was the question raised in my mind of what lessons I wish my mother had taught me

There are so many. I’ve had to navigate these 68 years, not only without her guidance, but often with deliberate rejection of the example she set of what it means to be a girl and then a woman. Sadly, in order to teach those lessons, she would have had to have learned them herself. 

Girl, Abandoned
A major upheaval in our family occurred just as I stood on the cusp of puberty. My mother became pregnant. I absorbed a sense of shame about it from my mother and anger from my grandmother – not in any words that were spoken, but my 12-year-old self picked up on it. After my brother was born, my mother was depressed and my father was pretty much absent. When he wasn’t working or at the bar, he was sleeping or yelling at my mother. I was abandoned at just the time I needed my mother the most. 

The messages that all this turmoil imprinted in me had a profound effect on how I understood sexuality (dirty), pregnancy (shameful), the role of women (subservient), and myself (unworthy). I entered junior high school and began a downward spiral from an A-student to suddenly failing several subjects. No one questioned why I was failing or why I started staying home sick as often as I could (I’ve often wondered: what is a guidance counselor for anyway?). No one took the time to wonder why my personal hygiene was slipping or why I spent so much time crying, alone in my bedroom. 

When I entered senior high school, I remember clearly making a decision to turn my life around. I think that was the beginning of my self-sufficiency. The good part of that was that I started taking care of myself; the not-so-good part was that (as I see now) a 16-year-old doesn’t always make wise decisions. But I was all I had. 

In my later teens, my relationship with my mother had deteriorated to the point that I had absolutely no respect for her. She betrayed my trust more than once. She shamed me about even the possibility of having sexual feelings for a boyfriend. She tried to control me by forbidding him to come to our house, which only succeeded in driving me out of the house.

Descent into Shame . . .
I found myself in some dangerous situations. I was sexually abused by someone I had met at work. I actually did tell my mother about this, but only because my brother heard me crying in my room and she came in to find out what was wrong. I told her what had happened. Incredibly to me now, I was more concerned about my father finding out; I felt a searing sense of shame. My mother listened, then assured me that she would talk to my father. Then she left. No hugs, no assurances of love, no nothing. 

For years, I felt extreme shame and responsibility for what had happened to me. It took many years for me to come to the awareness that I had never learned crucial life lessons about relationships, healthy sexuality, and love. I was sent out unprotected into a world that was filled with danger for one so ignorant. 

All the pain that you have known, 
All the violence in your soul, 
All the ‘wrong’ things you have done, 
I will take from you when I come

I got married when I was 19. I can now see that I looked to my future husband as a protector, and was profoundly affected when betrayed by him as well. As a further blow, my mother took his side, without knowing all the facts. Her response, according to him was, “Well, Susan has never been a happy person.”

All mistakes made in distress
All your unhappiness
I will take away with my kiss, yes
I will give you tenderness.

Then Hatred . . .
I came to hate my mother. I think the tipping point was a phone conversation we had when I was in my late 20s. My brother, now in his teens, was experiencing depression and refusing to go to school. After she told me about this, she said, “I know what it’s like. I went through it, you went through it, Gary (my other brother) went through it.” I was stunned. She had known all about what I had been suffering – and had done nothing. I’m sure her mother had done nothing for her either, but still . . . even an acknowledgment of my situation, my feelings would have been helpful. I truly hated her. 

Then Healing Begins
I was ordained in 1989 at age 38. At a continuing education event with Rabbi Edwin Friedman (1932-1996), I was immersed in family systems theory geared to clergy. A question asked by Rabbi Friedman knocked my proverbial socks off: which of your ancestors really ordained you? In other words, who in my family of origin had taught me how to be a pastoral leader? I was devastated to admit that, for me, that person was my mother. And those ways were extremely unhealthy. 

Soon after, I entered an intense group program of psychological and spiritual healing. In a silent prayer time one day, as I sat cross-legged on the floor with my head bowed, I very clearly heard a voice say to me, “You don’t have to hang your head in shame anymore.” The voice came from inside of me, but it was not my voice. That hasn’t been my only mystical experience, but it was certainly the most profound and life-changing. One of the effects on my own spiritual practice has been a rejection of an unworthy, groveling kind of prayer posture to one of open heart and open hands. I owe my physical, emotional, and spiritual life to the therapists, spiritual directors, and the other misfit clergy in our little community of suffering. Certainly that program was not the end of the healing process, but it gave me a huge kick start on the way. 

Forgiveness
In my 40s, I forgave my mother. We would never be close, but at least I was able to face buying a Mother’s Day card without having an emotional crisis.

I have come to realize that my courage, self-determination, and fierce independence come from my childhood experience. I am grateful for those gifts. On the downside, though, I’ve had difficulty letting others too far into my life; being vulnerable was just not safe. I also became a perfectionist, always seeking control over my environment. I’m doing much better with all that (thanks to those years of therapy and spiritual direction!), but the temptation to backslide is always there.

I’ve been able to convert the rage of my inner child into passion for social justice. 26805255_10213773990757284_71493849038125527_nI’m especially drawn to feminist issues; I want every girl to have the lessons, the opportunities, the care and protection I never had. There’s a pissed off 12-year-old inside of me – and she’s wearing a pussy hat!

The on-going struggle for me here, though, is to find ways to channel that anger appropriately in personal relationships. 

So the life lessons I learned are a mixed bag. Somehow, acknowledging myself as “girl, abandoned” has given me permission to grieve and rage with my younger self, as well as to be compassionate towards her. They’ve allowed me to honor the woman I’ve become because of and in spite of the wounds of the past, even when they flare up in the present.

I am grateful to know that I am not only a “girl, abandoned,” but I am also a “girl, found.” 

For child I am so glad I’ve found you
Although my arms have always been around you
Sweet bird although you did not see me
I saw you
 
And I’m here to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother you
 

 

 

 

 

 

Women’s Bodies and the Bible by Janet Rudolph

Trigger Alert:  The bible on its face is quite violent to women.

Amidst the ugliness that is American politics in general and abortion politics specifically, I began to look for guidance to understand what is happening. I ended up pulling out two books that I read long ago. The first is Woe to the Women-The Bible Tells Me So by Annie Laurie Gaylor. Gaylor, in turn, was inspired by the work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her The Women’s Bible which was originally published in two parts (1895 and 1898).

I had forgotten how inspired I have been by both books. Together, they motivated me to begin looking at how the bible is a foundational paradigm of our culture. I started researching how translations have been altered from original meanings. I have already written a few blogs about how the representations of Eve have been changed to strip Her of…

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Women & Justice in the Mainline Church

unknownMy denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is in the process of creating a social statement on Women & Justice. A final draft is due to come out next month and will hopefully be passed at our Churchwide Assembly in August. 

What Are Social Statements?
In the ELCA, although social statements are not binding on church members, they  
. . . are teaching and policy documents that provide broad frameworks to assist us in thinking about and discussing social issues in the context of faith and life.

. . . are meant to help communities and individuals with moral formation, discernment and thoughtful engagement with current social issues as we participate in God’s work in the world.

. . . set policy for the ELCA and guide its advocacy and work as a publicly engaged church. https://www.elca.org

Controversies?
My guess is that one of the more controversial statements of the document will be:
We are bold to declare that patriarchy and sexism are both sinful and found within our own faith tradition and our society.

But we would like to see the ELCA go even further and issue a statement of repentance for the sins of patriarchy and sexism. It’s not an unreasonable request. We’ve made such statements in the past, for example the Declaration of ELCA to Jewish Community and Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.

Another point of controversy will likely be:
We confess that there are problems within the Scriptures themselves and that our theological tradition has led to a theological understanding of humankind that is overly male-identified.

The more conservative wing of the church has already come out swinging, mainly offended by the perceived assault on scriptural authority. However, some of us think that Women and Justice doesn’t go far enough. In fact, a group of us has been meeting to formulate resolutions and memorials to strengthen the good foundation already laid down in the document.

Ironically, we agree in part with our conservative siblings: we want to see more biblical stories about women. For example, we’d like to see the apostle Junia recognized by her correct name and gender. In Romans 16: 7, Paul writes:
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
According to The Junia Project, Junia was widely accepted as a woman apostle throughout early Church history. However, in later translations an “s” was added to the end of her name, making it into a masculine form, Junias. Tsk!

And then there’s Phoebe. I remember so clearly hearing about Phoebe in my first year of seminary, way back in 61brlhmwxkl._sy450_1982. In New Testament Greek, Dr. Richard Jeske directed us to Romans 16.1, where Paul commends “our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae . . .”.

There he informed us that the word for “deaconess” (now usually translated “deacon”) is, in fact, the same word rendered elsewhere (when the subject is male) as “minister.” Some places use “servant,” but sadly, even The Inclusive Bible uses “deacon.” So, yeah, we accept the authority of scripture. We just want the translators to get it right. And we’d like to see more of the stories of these women included.

Inclusive / Expansive Language
Where we will surely part company with some within the ELCA is over the use of inclusive language for humanity and expansive language for the Divine. I’ve already seen complaints on some Facebook pages about pastors who (gasp!) called God “She.” The social statement does call for such usage, however we would like to see the ELCA make a commitment to model inclusive/expansive language at all its gatherings and to direct all publications to do so as well. Will they have the courage to do so? We can only hope. 

I’ve been insisting for decades that “words matter” and have been using inclusive and expansive language. I get it that it takes some effort to change language and/or find resources that are acceptable. Many pastors and worship planners either don’t have the time or won’t take the time to do the work. So our group is also insistent that resources be made available. I’ve actually been compiling lists of the resources I’ve used over the years: lectionaries, liturgies, hymns, prayers, etc. There has been a lot of good work done in recent years – and more being developed all the time. There really is no good excuse for not at least beginning to explore shifting into being a more inclusive church. 

There are some other issues about which our group has responded. One is the inclusion of lesbian and trans women, which is absolutely great. However, we’ve discovered that some of the issues brought to us by those who identify as LGBTQIA+ are not sufficiently addressed in the document. So we’ve been working on a new resolution. But that’s a discussion for another post. 

As Rachel Maddow would say, “Watch this space!”

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Another Action Item for Dismantling Patriarchy in the Church

Screenshot 2018-11-29 15.44.28

I am indebted to my colleague Pastor Dawn Hutchings from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket, Ontario for an additional item for my presentation, “Dismantling the Religious Roots of Patriarchy in Christianity.” 

In her sermon for Advent 1, “Shady Ladies, Forgotten Stories, and Images of God: Casualties of Our Advent Lectionary,” she gives us permission to “tinker with the lectionary” in order to allow the women of our Bible stories speak. So, for instance, you could forego the focus on John the Baptist this Sunday in favor of Elizabeth and Mary. Her challenge to “Tinker Away! Tell the Stories!” has given me a new addition to my list of action items. 

Here’s the list I put together for the workshop at the Parliament of the World’s Religions: 

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And here’s the new one: 

  • Lift up the stories of our foremothers in our sacred texts – even when it means tinkering with the lectionary to do so. Consider taking a season like Advent to intentionally seek out and tell these stories. As Pastor Dawn challenges, “Let this Advent be different. Invite the women of the gospels onto the stage.”

Amen!

P.S. I’m happy to add more action items. Send me your ideas.