Seated woman with blog, after Picasso by Mike Licht/NotionsCapital.com

In the last week these three posts really caught my eye, and I’ve been thinking about what each of them said. First was a post at Patheos on one of my favorite women in the Bible: Lydia.

Did you ever wonder to whom St. Paul wrote these inspiring words?

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 2:5)

 Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ( Phil. 3:7)

 You may not have pictured a successful businesswoman, but Lydia led the group who first received the letter to Philippians.

In Lydia: With Briefcase and Laptop Kathy Coffey points out what many people don’t know–Lydia was the pastor of the church in Philppi. The first Christian church in Europe met in Lydia’s home and was led by her (Lydia was the first Christian convert in Europe). We all know I love Lydia because she clearly shows that women were not meant to be just wives and mothers. Lydia was a business women, head of her household, and a church leader. I’ve written about her here, here, and here.

The next article that caught my attention was from The Sexy Feminist: Why We Need Female Spiritual Leaders by Jennifer Armstrong.

The reason our group, the Manhattan-based Village Zendo, made these two tiny changes in our services years ago, of our own accord, was because we were founded by, and are still led by, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara and Sensei Barbara Joshin O’Hara, both women. Of our top tier of four senior teachers, two are women. None of this is a coincidence; it’s exactly why female leadership is needed in any organization, because women see the ingrained inequalities and right them intuitively. The Matriarch’s Lineage was a Village Zendo creation, and took quite a bit of meticulous research to get correct — but our female leadership knew it was worth the effort. It’s not always men’s faults that they don’t see such slights as the fact that many chanted lineages are completely male, and that women have surely contributed to the building of many religions, whether or not their contributions were recorded as meticulously as men’s.

I had the same experience when I first joined The Christian Godde Project and read the first chapter of Matthew–Jesus’ genealogy–with the names of all the women named in the Bible along with the men. It was an eye-opening moment for me to see the names of the mothers along with the fathers in a biblical genealogy. I will soon be adding the women’s names in Jesus’ genealogy in Luke. History’s normal default is male, white and Western European, so Jennifer is right: we can’t solely blame the guys for overlooking women and minorities. After all for many of us that was “normal” and “objective” history and religion. But by encouraging women and minorities to be leaders and making it possible for them to be leaders, we then can hear their voices and experiences too. Our lives and our relationship with Godde will be the richer for it.

The last thing I read last night that has made think is 25 theologians to broaden your faith. Surprise, surprise: it wasn’t the names of the women on the list that caught my eye but these three:

Margaret Laurence was a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Raised in the United Church, she attended Lakefield (Ont.) United in her later years.

Try: The Stone Angel (1964)

Marilynne Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and essayist.

Try: Gilead (2004)

And of course:

C. S. Lewis was an Irish-born British writer, lay theologian and proponent of Christian apologetics, a branch of theology that aims to present a rational defence of the Christian faith.

Try: Mere Christianity (1952) or his children’s novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)

Novelists made the list! Maraget and Marilynne mainly write fiction. C. S. wrote both fiction and non-fiction theology. Novelists were included in a list of theologians! For the last five years I’ve been wondering how to fit my fiction with my non-fiction; fit my fiction and my theology. It was all wasted time! Writing fiction is part of my task as a theologian. It doesn’t have to be “fit in.” Madeline L’Engle said “Faith is best told in story.” (There’s another novelist I’d add to the list of theologians you should be reading).

I say: Theology is best told in story.

What have you been reading that’s made you think? Any recommendations on what I should read next? Let me know in the comments.

Today is the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. In Acts, he tell of two women religious leaders that you probably never learned about in Sunday School: Dorcas and Lydia.

Dorcas

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord (Acts 9:37-42).

You almost miss Dorcas’ story. After all most of Acts 9 is taken up with Saul’s conversion (later to become the apostle Paul) to Christianity after leading the persecution against the early church. So after Godde literally threw Saul off his ass (sorry I just cannot resist that one), he went blind, was healed and started preaching, the focus of the story quietly changes to Dorcas. By the time we meet her, she has died. This is a great lost to her community because she took such good care of them. And she took very good care of those who were considered the least of these: widows. Woman without a husband had no social standing at this time. They were normally destitute women who were forced to beg or to become prostitutes to support themselves and their children. If a woman did not have family at this time, she was in a very precarious place. Dorcas made sure these women had clothes.

When the story tells us Dorcas made the clothes, it meant a little bit more than she cut some material and sewed it. First she would have to spin the fiber into thread then weave it on her loom for the tunics and clothing she made. This was truly a labor of love on her part to make sure those in her community were at least dressed. She may have also weaved pieces for local merchants to sell in order to support herself (there is no mention of a husband). As long as a woman had a loom and access to wool or flax, she could make a living. Apparently not all the widows Dorcas knew had their own looms to make their own clothes or clothing to sell. Dorcas made sure they had the clothing they needed to survive.

Her illness and death was a big loss to the community, so they sent messengers to a nearby town because they heard Peter was there. Peter came, and the widows showed him the clothing Dorcas made for them. Peter responded to their grief. After sending everyone outside, he prayed and then said to her, “Tabitha get up.” She rose from the dead and was restored to her community. News spread. More people believed in Godde.

Lydia

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us (Acts 16:11-15).

Paul and his traveling companions arrived in Philippi. But there was no synagogue for them to worship at, so they decided to go to the river on the Sabbath where there was a place of prayer. Lydia was at the river. She was “a worshiper of God,” and listened to Paul’s teachings. In fact, we are told “the Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” In the next verse she and her household were baptized, and she urged Paul and his travelers to stay in her house. Lydia was the first convert to Christianity in Europe.

Lydia was a businesswoman, “a dealer of purple cloth” from Thyatira. Purple dye was a symbol of power and honor in the ancient world, and it was the most expensive and sought after dye in the Roman world. Thyatira was the capitol of the industry and renowned for its purple dyes. One had to have plenty of capital to deal in purple dye and the making of purple garments for sale. Lydia was a career woman, rich, the head of her household, and Acts 16:40 implies that by the end of Paul’s stay in Philippi, a new church was meeting in Lydia’s home. All of this could mean that Lydia was the overseer or pastor of the first church plant in Europe.