Wow! Mind blown!
I thought I had at least a general grasp of Genesis and the stories it contains. After reading Wil Gafney's translation and interpretation and explanation (Midrash) I really feel as if I knew next to nothing about the Genesis stories or the women who lived them.
There is a lot of information in this first section of the book. Looking at the stories of women from the womanist perspective with all the knowledge and experience that Gafney brings to this text is amazing.
Even the first two chapters of Genesis held surprises. By looking at the Hebrew, which specifies gender with at least some verbs - God is presented as creating (using the male tense) and hovering/pulsing over the waters (using the female tense). The earthling which God created in chapter 2 is neither male nor female until God takes a side (not a rib) from it. Then the sides of the one being become male and female so they can help each other. The text translated to refer to woman as the helper of the man uses the same word used to refer to God helping Israel. People have used this to belittle the woman's role - but that was not the original meaning. Translators in the past have been fairly loose with when they used the name Adam and when the text may have been referring to adamah - or the earth creature(s), and that, too, can change the whole feel of the story. Even the whole temptation story is different when the snake remains a snake (not being the devil in disguise) and the "you" the snake questions is the plural you. God's response to the temptation and disobedience is to 'reconfigure creation' so that snakes now have to crawl in the dirt and can no longer speak. This is not the same as a curse. Gafney presents many ideas new to me and definitely worth pondering.
I would love to go through all the female characters found in Genesis and share at least some of the insights from this book - but that would be much too long. I have included some insights below. Gafney points out that, in a culture so dominated by patriarchy, it is amazing how many named women there are in the Pentateuch. She also brings to the reader's attention how many of women, and even men, are listed by their mother's name not their father's. Our views of ancient Israel as patriarchal, monogamous, monotheist etc. are not necessarily found in the text itself. Our esteeming of some of the earliest "heroes" of the first testament (as she calls it) is not because they were, necessarily, morally strong nor pure. Many religions tell stories of the greatness of their founders, eliminating stories that show any frailty or fault; but our Bible is full of fully flawed humans, making mistakes and poor choices, and being used by God anyway. I think this allows us to enter more fully into the story of God's work with humanity, but I digress.
The thirteen named women from Genesis that Gafney discusses include the familiar, Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. They also include some I have never heard of before, Like Adah, Zillah, Keturah, and Asenath. There are also others, like "Abraham's lesser wives", who are not named but still came as a surprise.
In general it is fascinating to see the movement from one couple, made from one creature, in the garden of Eden, through Adah and Zillah and their husband Lamech who instituted polygamy, to the stories of the women surrounding Abraham. I did not realize he had six children with another woman, Keturah, after Sarah died. The story then goes on to Isaac and Rebekah where she seems to "rule the roost" and deception seems to become quite normal. Jacob deceives Esau. Rebekah helps Jacob deceive Isaac. Rachel and Leah's father, Laban, deceives Jacob. Jacob deceives him and so on. Then of course are all the stories of the women who were not given any choice, like Hagar/Hajar, Bilhah, and Zilpah who were used as "womb-slaves" - forced to have intercourse with their mistress' husband and bear children that would not be called their own. Think of Bilhah, first sexually enslaved to Laban and forced to do his will, then given to Rachel who makes her sleep with, and have children with, Jacob. Another name, unfamiliar to me, is Asenath. This is the daughter of a priest of On, given to Joseph by the Pharoah in appreciation for his loyalty and service to Egypt during the famine. Here we have a woman of status and of African origin who mothered two of the twelve tribes of Israel yet is a lesser known Biblical character.
Throughout all these stories we see power and powerlessness. We see and hear sexual servitude and forced surrogacy over and over again. We see incestuous relationships. We see regular, flawed, people living sometimes extremely difficult lives. What a fascinating new look at an old book.
****
I couldn't resist adding some bits of info from some of the stories as a kind of epilogue:
After Eve, the next women mentioned in Genesis are Adah and Zillah. I have to admit I had never heard of these two wives of Lamech. They begin an era of polygamy. Prior to this there wasn't even a term for marriage - and now it is marriage to more than one woman. It sounds like Lamech was not a nice person - identifying with and justifying Cain as murderer as well as implementing and justifying polygamy. I guess this is why he hasn't made it into the usual Sunday School lessons.
Na'amah is the daughter of Zillah, but that is all we know about her. Her brothers and half brothers are known as the fathers of : All tent-dwelling women and man and all shepherding women and men (through Jabal); All women and men who take up the lyre and/or the flute (through Jubal); All bronze-workers and iron workers (through Tubal-Cain); but even though she has no such heritage, her name is preserved in this "paradigm-shifting family." Curious.
We then move on to Sarah (formerly know as Sarai). This woman married her brother, Abram (who became Abraham). It never says that Abram/Abraham loved her. Just that they were married and she was very beautiful, and she was barren. Their married life involved a lot of travelling, first at the decision of their father, Terah, then later because Abram felt the call. During this time Sarai, presented as Abram's sister, not his woman, was taken into servitude by foreign kings, and they paid the price when the truth was revealed. The sexual nature of the servitude has been glossed over in the past, as has the financial profit Abraham probably made from the transactions. Sarah's story continues, but while she is often heralded as a mother of faith, we would question her treatment of Hagar.
Hagar is a Hebrew masculine, derogatory term meaning something like foreign thing. This was probably not her given name. Hajar, in the Islamic tradition, has a wide range of possible meanings including "Splendid" and "Nourishing". Some even think she was the daughter of the pharaoh, who mistakenly bought Sarah from Abraham, not knowing she was his wife. This story has the princess given to Sarah as compensation for the Pharoah's error. What a difference in perception - princess or slave - or the movement from one to the other. Unfortunately this selling/giving of women was not uncommon nor frowned upon in the culture of the day. Selling daughters or sisters was an acceptable way for a man to get himself out of financial trouble. What a weird juxtoposition - on one hand we see families where the women were the head, where they made the decisions and their name was the one carried by their sons and daughters.as identifiers. On the other hand girls were easily sold as sex slaves, womb slaves (to carry children who would be claimed as those of their mistress) or just slaves. If they were sold, they did not get the same right as male slaves to liberation in the year of Jubilee. This all boggles my mind. The culture of that time is beyond my comprehension. How did these women survive?
Then we meet Rebekah (Rivqah). In my mind she was the young woman convinced by a servant to travel to marry Isaac. With her research and studies of ancient texts and language, Gafney presents Rebekah as "one of the most dominant matriarchs in the Israelite story". Rebekah comes from a line of matriarchs - her father is identified as the son of Milcah, Abraham & Sarah's niece (and sister-in-law). She is given the choice as to whether or not she wants to go and marry this unknown relative and live in a place and way determined by her new husband. She is seen as barren, until, finally, she gives birth to twins. She does not approve of her son, Esau's, choice of Hittite wives. She prefers her younger son and contrives a way to get him the blessing owed his older brother. She is an active mover in the Israelite story.
I had not heard of Qeturah(Keturah). She was another woman Abraham took to mother children for him. Gafney posits that Keturah may be the one woman that Abraham picked for himself. Maybe this, at last, was relationship where they could relax and enjoy each other's company. We really don't know. Abraham and Keturah had six children together, some of whom became nations in their own right, nations that had "complicated relationships" with the nation of Israel throughout history. It is strange to me that I had not heard her name before this book.
"Abraham's lesser wives" received nothing as inheritance - but received gifts while he was still alive. I did not know about "lesser wives". How many wives did Abraham have? I wonder about their stories.
Rachel is beautiful and conniving and the chosen beloved of Jacob. She is smart and knows traditional (herbal) medicine. Unfortunately she also has trouble conceiving. Genesis holds a story of Rachel that parallels Sarah's story - of her being mistakenly taken by the head of state who believed her available. She is the one who steals her father's idols. She forces her slave, Bilhah, who had been her father's slave, to bear children for her. Interestingly, Gafney wonders if the first "switch" at the altar was actually Rachel's idea - Inspired imagination at work. Would Rachel have wanted to stay in her father's house? Interesting possibility.
Leah is not beautiful or brilliant but she is loving and loyal. She keeps bearing children for Jacob even when it is obvious he prefers her sister. When even this doesn't bring Jacob's love, she offers her slave, Zilpah, to give him more children.
Asenath, the Egyptian woman married to Joseph, has children claimed as Israelite, even though the matriarchal line would make them Egyptian.She is "one of a number of non-Israelite women to partner with significant patriarchs in the Israelite ancestry."
There is so much more to these stories - life was definitely not easy or straight forward for women back then. There is so much for us to learn - but this at least introduces some of the Genesis women.
Saturday, 23 June 2018
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
Womanist Midrash thoughts (introduction)
I have "discovered" an interesting book. Written by Wilda (Wil) Gafney, Womanist Midrash presents a new perspective on Bible reading. The introduction is intriguing.
The author uses the term womanist to describe herself and her approach to Biblical stories. Many of us are unfamiliar with womanism. "Most simply, womanism is black women's feminism." (p6) According to Gafney, many black women do not feel included in a movement dominated by white, dominant culture, relatively wealthy women. There is a strong sense that the egalitarian values of the feminist movement are often distorted by the wealth, privilege, and biases of the predominantly white leaders. At the same time the black liberationists, who can understand what it is like to be a minority, often seen as "less than" to a white majority, tend to focus on their male leaders. Womanism bridges those movements. "Womanism emerged as black women's intellectual and interpretive response to racism and classism in feminism and its articulation and in response to sexism in black liberationist thought." Ms. Gafney explains it in a much more compelling way, and her description does make me think of how Jesus spoke to, and stood up for, those who were overlooked and without a voice in society.
The term Midrash was also new to me. The online dictionary defines it as "an ancient commentary on part of the Hebrew scriptures, attached to the biblical text." Gafney explains "In Jewish sacred literature, midrash is the primary rabbinic term for exegesis....Traditional midrash is also mystical, imaginative, revelatory, and, above all, religious. Midrash interprets not only the text before the reader, but also the text behind and beyond the text and the text between the lines of the text." (p4)
To get to the whole reason why I find this all so intriguing, there is one more term that was defined in the introduction to this book. It is "Sanctified Imagination" which is what preachers can invoke to say that what is about to be said is "going beyond the text in a manner not likely to be challenged, even in the most literal interpretive communities...the fertile creative space where the preacher-interpreter enters the text..."
The author explains that there are, depending on way of counting, roughly 111 named female characters in the Hebrew Bible, and hundreds more who are unnamed. She has chosen to present the stories of at least some of these women, giving some of the unnamed women names, and using her knowledge of biblical languages and times, tied together with sanctified imagination, to fill in their stories to speak to us today. I look forward to new insights and understandings as I explore this Womanist Midrash.
The author uses the term womanist to describe herself and her approach to Biblical stories. Many of us are unfamiliar with womanism. "Most simply, womanism is black women's feminism." (p6) According to Gafney, many black women do not feel included in a movement dominated by white, dominant culture, relatively wealthy women. There is a strong sense that the egalitarian values of the feminist movement are often distorted by the wealth, privilege, and biases of the predominantly white leaders. At the same time the black liberationists, who can understand what it is like to be a minority, often seen as "less than" to a white majority, tend to focus on their male leaders. Womanism bridges those movements. "Womanism emerged as black women's intellectual and interpretive response to racism and classism in feminism and its articulation and in response to sexism in black liberationist thought." Ms. Gafney explains it in a much more compelling way, and her description does make me think of how Jesus spoke to, and stood up for, those who were overlooked and without a voice in society.
The term Midrash was also new to me. The online dictionary defines it as "an ancient commentary on part of the Hebrew scriptures, attached to the biblical text." Gafney explains "In Jewish sacred literature, midrash is the primary rabbinic term for exegesis....Traditional midrash is also mystical, imaginative, revelatory, and, above all, religious. Midrash interprets not only the text before the reader, but also the text behind and beyond the text and the text between the lines of the text." (p4)
To get to the whole reason why I find this all so intriguing, there is one more term that was defined in the introduction to this book. It is "Sanctified Imagination" which is what preachers can invoke to say that what is about to be said is "going beyond the text in a manner not likely to be challenged, even in the most literal interpretive communities...the fertile creative space where the preacher-interpreter enters the text..."
The author explains that there are, depending on way of counting, roughly 111 named female characters in the Hebrew Bible, and hundreds more who are unnamed. She has chosen to present the stories of at least some of these women, giving some of the unnamed women names, and using her knowledge of biblical languages and times, tied together with sanctified imagination, to fill in their stories to speak to us today. I look forward to new insights and understandings as I explore this Womanist Midrash.
Monday, 14 March 2016
3 John - take 2
It has been a while since I've written so I took another look at 3 John. This time it spoke to me. Why? Because our church passed a motion to be welcoming to people from the LGBTQ community.
This decision has sparked some discussion with friends and acquaintances, and even some apparent judgment from some of them. Many people seem to feel it is almost blasphemous to accept these people other than to teach them the error of their ways (love the sinner, hate the sin). For some reason this is THE issue that, it appears, will determine whether a church is "Godly" or not - and generally it means 'not" unless you reject these people because, obviously, they can't be Christian. Anyone who reads the Bible differently is a false teacher.
This suddenly started to sound like the situation John was speaking into. One group defaming the teaching of another - refusing to accept the Christianity of some followers, even calling into question the authority of some of the leaders. John praises the hospitality of those who see Christ in the teaching. He praises those who take a chance by being hospitable, even in the face of controversy.
So I feel that John is blessing our congregation for taking this step. We have taken a long time to come to this decision to show hospitality and acceptance to our brothers and sisters, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. We feel God is calling us to this move. Many don't/can't accept that - I understand that part of where they are coming from. Those who no longer wish to associate with us because of this move, who feel we are no longer Christian, who feel threatened and angry because of it, I do not understand.
But we will "not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God;" We will not (I hope) lash out in harsh condemning words about those who condemn us. We will not turn from those we have chosen to accept because others reject us. We will look for the good and know that it is from God - and trust God to lead us and bless us as we continue to travel this road.
This decision has sparked some discussion with friends and acquaintances, and even some apparent judgment from some of them. Many people seem to feel it is almost blasphemous to accept these people other than to teach them the error of their ways (love the sinner, hate the sin). For some reason this is THE issue that, it appears, will determine whether a church is "Godly" or not - and generally it means 'not" unless you reject these people because, obviously, they can't be Christian. Anyone who reads the Bible differently is a false teacher.
This suddenly started to sound like the situation John was speaking into. One group defaming the teaching of another - refusing to accept the Christianity of some followers, even calling into question the authority of some of the leaders. John praises the hospitality of those who see Christ in the teaching. He praises those who take a chance by being hospitable, even in the face of controversy.
So I feel that John is blessing our congregation for taking this step. We have taken a long time to come to this decision to show hospitality and acceptance to our brothers and sisters, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. We feel God is calling us to this move. Many don't/can't accept that - I understand that part of where they are coming from. Those who no longer wish to associate with us because of this move, who feel we are no longer Christian, who feel threatened and angry because of it, I do not understand.
But we will "not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God;" We will not (I hope) lash out in harsh condemning words about those who condemn us. We will not turn from those we have chosen to accept because others reject us. We will look for the good and know that it is from God - and trust God to lead us and bless us as we continue to travel this road.
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
October 26 - Practicing Presence through weeping and in the Wilderness
There were fewer of us that met this Monday, but we had a valuable time of practicing presence with each other.
We began with the story of the raising of Lazarus from John 11:17-36. Reading it in a different version (The Message) brought out some different aspects of the story. Was Jesus angry with all the mourners? If so, why? Or was he caught up with their emotions? When he wept - was it from anger and frustration or was it mourning Lazarus or from some other emotion? Unfortunately we did not have any answers, but it did bring up the idea that tears come from different emotional places.
So how do you feel when someone cries in your presence? There was a Sudanese funeral in our church just over a week ago, and some of the mourners were overwhelmed with grief - crumpling to the floor because it was just too much. We don't see that much in our society. We like to stay in control - put a lid on our emotions. Some of the mourners at that recent funeral were not hampered by that ideal. And some of their Canadian friends were willing to sit with them and cry with them. This is what practicing presence is - being fully present to others' pain. This is often not so easy to do. We, like many people we meet in the Bible, want to "jump to the resurrection". We want to go to the happy ending and avoid feeling all that comes before.
Our efforts to skip over the mourning can hinder others' healing. We don't have to find words to make others feel better, just spend time with them, where they are, so they know they are not alone in their time of sadness and loss.
As it says in Romans 12:15, we should "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."
We moved on to Matthew 4:1-11 and the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. We all had trouble imagining not eating for forty days - let alone refusing food after that. That was our biggest temptation. But seriously, how did Jesus have the fortitude to turn down the temptation to turn rocks into bread? He must have been hungry. He would not have been hurting anyone else. How did he manage not to give in?
Just prior to his heading into the wilderness, Jesus was baptized. As he rose from the river a voice from Heaven claimed him as God's own son. Did this make a difference? Did some of the strength to keep going and resist the temptation of an easy fix come from the confidence that was displayed in that declaration? How can we remind our brothers and sisters that they, too, are loved and claimed by God? Is there a way to get this notion so ingrained it stays with us even through the times of wilderness & temptation?
Jesus also called upon memorized Scriptures to withstand the seemingly logical arguments of the tempter. Is this guidance for something we can do to help when we are going through hard times? Will having memorized scriptures and hymns (and poetry?) help?
The number 40 seems to be significant. In Biblical times 40 is a number of completion, of cleansing, of growth. There are 40 weeks of gestation for the birth of a full term child. There were 40 days (and 40 nights) of rain for the flood. There are 40 litres of water in the bath for ritual cleansing. For Forty years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. It takes about 40 years for power etc. to pass to the next generation (traditionally). Maybe sometimes we need to go through the process, through the 40 days of testing or trials in order to come out whole on the other side.
It is hard to understand but it seems that we need to develop a kind of patience. Just as Jesus didn't skip to the resurrection when he met Martha and then Mary but took time to mourn with them, we need to be prepared to wait, to journey, to endure, until the time of completion - until our 40 days (or however long) is over and we are cleansed and ready to accept the ministrations of angels, the resurrection, or whatever the outcome that awaits on the other side of our wildernesses.
We talked a lot about our wildernesses. And yes, there was weeping. We truly practiced presence with each other as we shared difficult times in our lives and in the lives of others' we care about. It was closer to 40 minutes than 40 days/weeks/years - but it was good. Sometimes it is good to just let the masks, the walls, the composure slip away and be truly present with each other. May each of us experience that kind of presence with others in our lives.
We began with the story of the raising of Lazarus from John 11:17-36. Reading it in a different version (The Message) brought out some different aspects of the story. Was Jesus angry with all the mourners? If so, why? Or was he caught up with their emotions? When he wept - was it from anger and frustration or was it mourning Lazarus or from some other emotion? Unfortunately we did not have any answers, but it did bring up the idea that tears come from different emotional places.
So how do you feel when someone cries in your presence? There was a Sudanese funeral in our church just over a week ago, and some of the mourners were overwhelmed with grief - crumpling to the floor because it was just too much. We don't see that much in our society. We like to stay in control - put a lid on our emotions. Some of the mourners at that recent funeral were not hampered by that ideal. And some of their Canadian friends were willing to sit with them and cry with them. This is what practicing presence is - being fully present to others' pain. This is often not so easy to do. We, like many people we meet in the Bible, want to "jump to the resurrection". We want to go to the happy ending and avoid feeling all that comes before.
Our efforts to skip over the mourning can hinder others' healing. We don't have to find words to make others feel better, just spend time with them, where they are, so they know they are not alone in their time of sadness and loss.
As it says in Romans 12:15, we should "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."
We moved on to Matthew 4:1-11 and the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. We all had trouble imagining not eating for forty days - let alone refusing food after that. That was our biggest temptation. But seriously, how did Jesus have the fortitude to turn down the temptation to turn rocks into bread? He must have been hungry. He would not have been hurting anyone else. How did he manage not to give in?
Just prior to his heading into the wilderness, Jesus was baptized. As he rose from the river a voice from Heaven claimed him as God's own son. Did this make a difference? Did some of the strength to keep going and resist the temptation of an easy fix come from the confidence that was displayed in that declaration? How can we remind our brothers and sisters that they, too, are loved and claimed by God? Is there a way to get this notion so ingrained it stays with us even through the times of wilderness & temptation?
Jesus also called upon memorized Scriptures to withstand the seemingly logical arguments of the tempter. Is this guidance for something we can do to help when we are going through hard times? Will having memorized scriptures and hymns (and poetry?) help?
The number 40 seems to be significant. In Biblical times 40 is a number of completion, of cleansing, of growth. There are 40 weeks of gestation for the birth of a full term child. There were 40 days (and 40 nights) of rain for the flood. There are 40 litres of water in the bath for ritual cleansing. For Forty years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. It takes about 40 years for power etc. to pass to the next generation (traditionally). Maybe sometimes we need to go through the process, through the 40 days of testing or trials in order to come out whole on the other side.
It is hard to understand but it seems that we need to develop a kind of patience. Just as Jesus didn't skip to the resurrection when he met Martha and then Mary but took time to mourn with them, we need to be prepared to wait, to journey, to endure, until the time of completion - until our 40 days (or however long) is over and we are cleansed and ready to accept the ministrations of angels, the resurrection, or whatever the outcome that awaits on the other side of our wildernesses.
We talked a lot about our wildernesses. And yes, there was weeping. We truly practiced presence with each other as we shared difficult times in our lives and in the lives of others' we care about. It was closer to 40 minutes than 40 days/weeks/years - but it was good. Sometimes it is good to just let the masks, the walls, the composure slip away and be truly present with each other. May each of us experience that kind of presence with others in our lives.
Monday, 26 October 2015
3 John
Though 3 John has 2 more verses than 2 John, it somehow seems shorter. I struggle to find much meaning for me in this letter.
After a brief greeting the writer commends Gaius for his hospitality and his faithfulness in living his life in keeping with his faith. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have people speak of your faithfulness to the truth? To be seen as the epitome of love and hospitality? While I usually fail miserably, I will hear this as a call to continue to learn to grow in "faithfulness to the truth" (v3). This is a real challenge as day to day distractions arise that pull at time, energy, finances. I admire Gaius for continuing to remain faithful.
The second section names someone, Diotrephes, who did not acknowledge the writer's authority. I guess here, again, we are warned against false teaching. I find it interesting that this person was preventing people from "welcoming the friends", and expelling people who want to do so (v10). In light of modern controversy, who are the "friends" - then and now. I assume then it was some travelling preachers, now ???? Could it be committed Christians from the LGBTQ community? Just wondering because they are the current "friends" who are often not welcome and whose inclusion can mean expulsion from the larger church body.
In general - I think this letter gives a tiny bit of insight into the age in which Paul lived - with itinerant preachers traveling around to support the churches, and other "charlatans" travelling around with different ideas trying to get them off track. Even then there were people who tried to take over the church and run it their own way. This letter can inspire us to be more like Gaius and Demitrius and to watch out charismatic, powerful false teachers like Diotrephes.
After a brief greeting the writer commends Gaius for his hospitality and his faithfulness in living his life in keeping with his faith. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have people speak of your faithfulness to the truth? To be seen as the epitome of love and hospitality? While I usually fail miserably, I will hear this as a call to continue to learn to grow in "faithfulness to the truth" (v3). This is a real challenge as day to day distractions arise that pull at time, energy, finances. I admire Gaius for continuing to remain faithful.
The second section names someone, Diotrephes, who did not acknowledge the writer's authority. I guess here, again, we are warned against false teaching. I find it interesting that this person was preventing people from "welcoming the friends", and expelling people who want to do so (v10). In light of modern controversy, who are the "friends" - then and now. I assume then it was some travelling preachers, now ???? Could it be committed Christians from the LGBTQ community? Just wondering because they are the current "friends" who are often not welcome and whose inclusion can mean expulsion from the larger church body.
In general - I think this letter gives a tiny bit of insight into the age in which Paul lived - with itinerant preachers traveling around to support the churches, and other "charlatans" travelling around with different ideas trying to get them off track. Even then there were people who tried to take over the church and run it their own way. This letter can inspire us to be more like Gaius and Demitrius and to watch out charismatic, powerful false teachers like Diotrephes.
Sunday, 25 October 2015
2 John - Short & Sweet
2 John is roughly a page long (13 verses) with the characteristics of a letter. It starts with a salutation and ends with greetings. It identifies the sender as "the elder" and the recipient as "the elect lady and her children".
I find the address of this document interesting - even before I read the letter. With all those modern people who want to keep women from leadership by claiming they should be silent in church, it is interesting to me that (it sounds to me like) an ancient writer is writing to a woman who is a leader of an early Christian community - and bringing greetings from another. This has never really been pointed out to me before. While numerous sources have quoted anything that remotely hints that women should not be in leadership, here is another little nugget suggesting women have held leadership positions since the beginning of the church. I think this avaoidance is another case of us reading into Scriptures. Our traditions have formed our opinions and influence what we read and how we read the passages we do read. I have found a lot of new understandings through this exercise of reading each document as a letter written to me. This is just one more insight into the ancient church that many ignore because it doesn't fit notions formed by interpretations filtered through culture.
I am not free of reading through my filters (of culture and current debates) - but I am trying to read what is written in the context in and into which it was written, and hear what it has to say to me. This may make my ramblings irrelevant to you - but I hope they might give you food for further thought (and maybe research). Back to 2 John.....
Once again we are reminded - not of new commandment but one "we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;"
We are also warned, once again, about deceivers. We are to "Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for".
And that's about it . Those are the two things that the writer found worth important enough to write this letter. It is so scarey to think we may be swayed by "deceivers" - people with the words and arguments that twist what is said in Scripture. Is it any wonder some people want to stick with the traditional interpretations? But maybe tradition can become the "deceiver"? Maybe it can become a filter through which the living Word cannot keep its meaning intact? How can we keep "what we have worked for" when we are so hard pressed to convince each other what is true and what is deception? However we work at discerning the meaning of Scriptures, I hope we can keep the other admonition, to love one another, central in our interactions with people with whom we may not agree. Let us also remember to pray. It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can remain confident in our reading of words written way before our time and from a very different mindset.
Let us continue to pray the God will be with us, will help us to love each other, and will help us understand the message of the Bible.
I find the address of this document interesting - even before I read the letter. With all those modern people who want to keep women from leadership by claiming they should be silent in church, it is interesting to me that (it sounds to me like) an ancient writer is writing to a woman who is a leader of an early Christian community - and bringing greetings from another. This has never really been pointed out to me before. While numerous sources have quoted anything that remotely hints that women should not be in leadership, here is another little nugget suggesting women have held leadership positions since the beginning of the church. I think this avaoidance is another case of us reading into Scriptures. Our traditions have formed our opinions and influence what we read and how we read the passages we do read. I have found a lot of new understandings through this exercise of reading each document as a letter written to me. This is just one more insight into the ancient church that many ignore because it doesn't fit notions formed by interpretations filtered through culture.
I am not free of reading through my filters (of culture and current debates) - but I am trying to read what is written in the context in and into which it was written, and hear what it has to say to me. This may make my ramblings irrelevant to you - but I hope they might give you food for further thought (and maybe research). Back to 2 John.....
Once again we are reminded - not of new commandment but one "we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;"
We are also warned, once again, about deceivers. We are to "Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for".
And that's about it . Those are the two things that the writer found worth important enough to write this letter. It is so scarey to think we may be swayed by "deceivers" - people with the words and arguments that twist what is said in Scripture. Is it any wonder some people want to stick with the traditional interpretations? But maybe tradition can become the "deceiver"? Maybe it can become a filter through which the living Word cannot keep its meaning intact? How can we keep "what we have worked for" when we are so hard pressed to convince each other what is true and what is deception? However we work at discerning the meaning of Scriptures, I hope we can keep the other admonition, to love one another, central in our interactions with people with whom we may not agree. Let us also remember to pray. It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can remain confident in our reading of words written way before our time and from a very different mindset.
Let us continue to pray the God will be with us, will help us to love each other, and will help us understand the message of the Bible.
October 19 - Practicing Presence through Compassion and Nurture
After taking time off for Thanksgiving and, previously, for various appointments/commitments, five of us met on Monday to talk about Practicing Presence.
We started with reading a part of the creation story from Genesis 1:26-28. This is a reminder that we are created in God's image. How does this play out in our lives? Though, of course, we do not have the same abilities or capacities as God has, we are called to be God's image bearers. Psalm 139: 13ff says:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you....
Once again we are reminded that God made us. God knows what we are capable of. God walks along side us and helps us when we stumble - and wants us to do the same with people we see around us. One way we can bear God's image is to be compassionate - to walk alongside those who are hurting and want to help.
We also read Luke 6:36 - Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. We were a little confused - but if you look at the Complete Jewish Bible it translates as "Show compassion, just as your Father shows compassion". It seems that, while to many of us compassion and mercy are quite different, when translating the Hebrew word used here, they can be interchangeable.
So, basically, there is to be no more "not my problem" - knowing ourselves to be image bearers of our caring creator, we are to practice compassion and help bring others through their suffering into new life.
The second aspect of Practicing Presence that we looked at was Nurture.
Here we looked at 4 passages:
1 Thessalonians 2:7b & 8; "We were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children...."
Hosea 11:3 & 4: "Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk....I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them."
Numbers 11:10-15: [Moses talking to God about the hungry Isaraelites] "...Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a suckling child.,'...."
Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."
It is almost inconceivable to us that a mother would "forget" her child, so we thought and talked about the Isaiah passage for a while. To think that God loves us even more than we love our children is almost unfathomable - but a great thing to ponder.
The idea of God as mother was also something we discussed for a while. It brings out some different aspects of God. We talked about how this was not a super popular idea among some Christians - how inclusion of "Mothering God, you gave me birth" (HWB 482) was a part of some congregations' reasoning for not purchasing the "new" Hymnal, a Worship Book when it first came out. But the real question is, how do/should we be nurturing to those around us? So often our conversations are limited to the "Hi, How are you?" in the foyer Sunday morning. But then we spoke of mentors, older people who we picture as somehow significant to our growing up years. People who nurtured our faith in some way. We spoke of people who, even in brief conversations, could make you feel like you were the only person that mattered in that moment, that what you had to say was important. We spoke of people who have a gift/talent of bringing conversations to a deeper level. We named people we remembered as nurturing our faith in some way.
We are called to nurture each other's faith. We are called to respectful listening that helps draw out faith, that encourages growth and development. We are called to vulnerability - to open ourselves so that others feel it safe to be open with us. Through this we we are called to nurture, feed, help develop growth and wholeness for others, for our communities and for our world.
We started with reading a part of the creation story from Genesis 1:26-28. This is a reminder that we are created in God's image. How does this play out in our lives? Though, of course, we do not have the same abilities or capacities as God has, we are called to be God's image bearers. Psalm 139: 13ff says:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you....
Once again we are reminded that God made us. God knows what we are capable of. God walks along side us and helps us when we stumble - and wants us to do the same with people we see around us. One way we can bear God's image is to be compassionate - to walk alongside those who are hurting and want to help.
We also read Luke 6:36 - Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. We were a little confused - but if you look at the Complete Jewish Bible it translates as "Show compassion, just as your Father shows compassion". It seems that, while to many of us compassion and mercy are quite different, when translating the Hebrew word used here, they can be interchangeable.
So, basically, there is to be no more "not my problem" - knowing ourselves to be image bearers of our caring creator, we are to practice compassion and help bring others through their suffering into new life.
The second aspect of Practicing Presence that we looked at was Nurture.
Here we looked at 4 passages:
1 Thessalonians 2:7b & 8; "We were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children...."
Hosea 11:3 & 4: "Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk....I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them."
Numbers 11:10-15: [Moses talking to God about the hungry Isaraelites] "...Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a suckling child.,'...."
Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."
It is almost inconceivable to us that a mother would "forget" her child, so we thought and talked about the Isaiah passage for a while. To think that God loves us even more than we love our children is almost unfathomable - but a great thing to ponder.
The idea of God as mother was also something we discussed for a while. It brings out some different aspects of God. We talked about how this was not a super popular idea among some Christians - how inclusion of "Mothering God, you gave me birth" (HWB 482) was a part of some congregations' reasoning for not purchasing the "new" Hymnal, a Worship Book when it first came out. But the real question is, how do/should we be nurturing to those around us? So often our conversations are limited to the "Hi, How are you?" in the foyer Sunday morning. But then we spoke of mentors, older people who we picture as somehow significant to our growing up years. People who nurtured our faith in some way. We spoke of people who, even in brief conversations, could make you feel like you were the only person that mattered in that moment, that what you had to say was important. We spoke of people who have a gift/talent of bringing conversations to a deeper level. We named people we remembered as nurturing our faith in some way.
We are called to nurture each other's faith. We are called to respectful listening that helps draw out faith, that encourages growth and development. We are called to vulnerability - to open ourselves so that others feel it safe to be open with us. Through this we we are called to nurture, feed, help develop growth and wholeness for others, for our communities and for our world.
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