International Women's Day Tomorrow

In December 2005 I first posted a piece of poetry that I'd encountered in one of my church history classes titled, "The Woman's Creed." Written by Rachel Conrad Wahlberg in 1978, after a time of reflecting on the Apostle's Creed, I continue to find that it speaks to my heart each time I read it. In honor of tomorrow being "International Women's Day", and because it speaks deeply to a number of topics that have come up in various ongoing conversations I've been having, I thought I'd once again bring this piece forward for your enjoyment. (I've reproduced it, including the asterixed comment, from the original that was given to me in class.)

I believe in God
who created woman and man in God's own image
who created the world
and gave both sexes
the care of the earth.

I believe in Jesus
child of God
chosen of God
born of the woman Mary
who listened to women and liked them
who stayed in their homes
who discussed the Kingdom with them
who was followed and financed
by women disciples.

I believe in Jesus
who discussed theology with a woman at a well
and first confided in her
his messiahship
who motivated her to go and tell
her great news to the city.

I believe in Jesus who received anointing
from a woman at Simon's house
who rebuked the men guests who scorned her
I believe in Jesus who said this woman will be remembered
for what she did -minister to Jesus.

I believe in Jesus
who acted boldly
to reject the blood taboo
of ancient societies
by healing the audacious woman who touched him.

I believe in Jesus who healed a woman
on the sabbath
and made her straight
because she was a human being.

I believe in Jesus
who spoke of God
as a woman seeking the lost coin
as a woman who swept
seeking the lost.

I believe in Jesus
who thought of pregnancy and birth
with reverence
not as punishment - but
as wrenching event
a metaphor for transformation
born again
anguish-into-joy.

I believe in Jesus
who spoke of himself
as a mother hen
who would gather her chicks
under her wings.

I believe in Jesus who appeared
first to Mary Magdalene
who sent her with the bursting message
GO AND TELL...

I believe in the wholeness
of the Savior
in whom there is neither
Jew nor Greek
slave nor free
male nor female
for we are all one
in salvation.

I believe in the Holy Spirit
as she moves over the waters
of creation
and over the earth.

I believe in the Holy Spirit
as she yearns within us
to pray for those things
too deep for words.

I believe in the Holy Spirit
the woman spirit of God*
who like a hen
created us
and gave us birth
and covers us
with her wings.

*the Hebrew word for Spirit is feminine

Being Free to Love - Henri Nouwen

I received this reflection from the Henri Nouwen society about a week ago, and have been mulling it over a bit this week...

Being Free to Love

Jesus came to help us overcome our fear of God. As long as we are afraid of God, we cannot love God. Love means intimacy, closeness, mutual vulnerability, and a deep sense of safety. But all of those are impossible as long as there is fear. Fear creates suspicion, distance, defensiveness and insecurity.

The greatest block in the spiritual life is fear. Prayer, meditation, and education cannot come forth out of fear. God is perfect love, and as John the Evangelist writes, "Perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18). Jesus' central message is that God loves us with an unconditional love and desires our love, free from all fear, in return.

Sad

One word. Three letters. The best way I can come up with to describe what I'm feeling tonight.

I sat on the train coming home from time with a friend, quietly listening and praying. Letting things flow over me. Letting them touch my soul.

Sad.

I'm seeing the brokenness tonight. The hurt. The things with no quick and easy solution. And I'm feeling them deep in my soul.

Do You Want to Be Healed?

I get a daily email reflection written by an author named John Fischer. Today, he wrote about the man by the pool, the man Jesus asked, "Do you want to be healed?" I liked these lines, that Fischer used to close his reflection.

"Being healed opens up a lot of options. It's not for everyone -- just those who want to get out of their funk and make a difference with their lives. How about it? Do you want to be healed? Turns out, it's not a question with an obvious answer."

Love and Relationships - Henri Nouwen

More great thoughts from Henri Nouwen...

Reflecting God's perfect love

God's love for us is everlasting. That means that God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. It is an eternal love in which we are embraced. Living a spiritual life calls us to claim that eternal love for ourselves so that we can live our temporal loves - for parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, spouses, and all people who become part of our lives - as reflections or refractions of God's eternal love. No fathers or mothers can love their children perfectly. No husbands or wives can love each other with unlimited love. There is no human love that is not broken somewhere.

When our broken love is the only love we can have, we are easily thrown into despair, but when we can live our broken love as a partial reflection of God's perfect, unconditional love, we can forgive one another our limitations and enjoy together the love we have to offer.

Creating a Home Together

Many human relationships are like the interlocking fingers of two hands. Our loneliness makes us cling to each other, and this mutual clinging makes us suffer immensely because it does not take our loneliness away. But the harder we try, the more desperate we become. Many of these "interlocking" relationships fall apart because they become suffocating and oppressive. Human relationships are meant to be like two hands folded together. They can move away from each other while still touching with the fingertips. They can create space between themselves, a little tent, a home, a safe place to be.

True relationships among people point to God. They are like prayers in the world. Sometimes the hands that pray are fully touching, sometimes there is distance between them. They always move to and from each other, but they never lose touch. They keep praying to the One who brought them together.