The contemplative dimension of walking comes through my presence to the world around me and to what is moving through me as I walk. I listen for the ways the divine is speaking through the world. I listen to my own heart beating more loudly because of the vigor of my movement. I listen for the ways new ideas arise in this space (p. 17).

I was already experimenting with this as I do a lot of walking. We live in Chicago and don’t have a car, so I do a lot of walking. It is so easy to always be in a hurry and walk fast with the rest of the crowd, brushing by people and not really noticing anything around you. Even when I’d take walks through Grant Park down to Lake Michigan, I was more interested in keeping my heart rate up. I’d notice the beautiful plants and trees around me but just in passing.

See if you can walk without needing to get anywhere in particular. As you take each step listen for the next invitation. Is there a tree or a crow calling for some attention? Allow time to simply be present to the way the world in inviting you into deeper attention to the gifts of this moment in time (p. 17).

One day a little bunny rabbit ran across my path into a hiding place in the bushes. I crouched down and looked in to see the rabbit holding very still then disappearing as it sensed me. I stopped at plants I found particularly beautiful and admired them. I found Chicago’s best keep secret–Northerly Island–by walking “without needing to get anywhere in particular.” After living for almost six years on this gem’s doorstop, I couldn’t believe that I never wandered this way before. But I had always had my route, and the time I wanted to make it in before. My walks became longer and slower. My 40 minute fast walked turned into a 1.5 slower walk being much more aware of what was around me and connecting with Godde through her marvelous creation.

At the beginning of Lent these walks helped me with my Lenten discipline of letting go what isn’t mine. Right before Lent I read this question in a book: What do you need to let go of that isn’t yours? Godde told me that’s what I needed to spend Lent doing. Letting go of what I should have never grabbed, what I should’ve never worried about, and problems that were never mine to begin with. In late February and early March we had these incredible winds blowing through Chicago (I grew up in Oklahoma: I love sunny, windy days). I love how wild the winds in spring and fall feel: blowing in every direction, and literally blowing one season out and another in. I love the wild feel the wind has in these transitional seasons. I used that wind to let go of what I had taken on that wasn’t mine. As I took these long walks, when I’d start thinking and worrying about something that was not my problem and I could do nothing about, I consciously let it go and let the wind blow it away. I literally let many things that were never mine to begin with blow off of me on Northerly Island. I also found two of my favorite refuges.

First the weeping willow trees.

I love weeping willow trees.

I have since I was a kid, and I was convinced that walking through their branches would take me into another world. (Yes, I was looking for Narnia after wearing out all of the closets in the house.)  I now visit this beautiful grove of seven trees on a fairly regular basis, and they are still enchanted trees for me. I love walking through the branches and smelling their distinct green smell and sitting under their branches hidden from everybody. I feel eight years old. This grove became a natural stopping place on my walks for mediation where I listened to the wind blow through the trees and the lake lap onto the beach and barriers near by.

After finding the willow trees and continuing south I discovered Chicago’s best kept secret: The Daphne statues.

I cannot tell you how beautiful these statues are. I will have to show you.

Aren’t they incredible? I know they have a story to tell. I think it’s a fairy tale. I will write this fairy tale or myth of why these beautiful goddesses dance on Northerly Island watching over Chicago. (You can found out the historical story of The Daphnes here.) So now my creativity is sparking because of The Daphnes.

Sometimes I take a verse with me on my walk (another idea from The Artist’s Rule). On Holy Saturday I took Matthew 27:61 with  me: “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb (DFV).” I meditated on this holy day of waiting on the Marys waiting and sitting opposite of the tomb. How long did they hold their vigil? Did they stay through the  night and Sabbath, only leaving when they needed to go buy the spices to complete his burial? What was it like to sit opposite of the tomb, remaining there, bearing witness of Jesus’ death and crucifixion, with no knowledge of the coming resurrection? As I walked I felt a deep sense of silence and a deep sense of Godde’s presence. Of that unshakeable presence and love that not even death could overcome. It was a holy walk.

I find myself praying, meditating and contemplating on my walks. I find myself listening for Godde–especially in the wind. The wind has always represented the Holy Spirit for me. I listen for Godde’s voice on the wind, and as the wind blows through the trees. Other times I find myself playing, taking off my shoes to splash through Lake Michigan then collapsing under the willow trees, wondering what world I will find myself in under their branches. I think both extremes bring me closer to Godde. Make me more like Christ. Make more of the woman Godde created me to be and helps me let go of the masks and disguises I’ve worn for years to conform to what the church said I should be. These walks have become one of my favorite spiritual practices.

What do you think of contemplative walking? Have you done this? What was your experience of walking to be in the present moment and with Godde in that moment? What things did you notice? What things did you let go of? Is this a practice you would be interested in trying?

If you do go on a contemplative walk this week, please let me know what you experienced and how you felt in the comments.

Spiritual Practices: Contemplative Walking is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Women in the Gospel of John: The Johannine Community’s Response to Christian Communities Limiting Women Leaders

Brief Description: The New Testament is not monolithic about Christian belief and worship; there are competing early communities of Christianity within our canon. Two well known groups are those who followed Peter–the Petrine church, and those who following Paul–the Pauline church. Both of these traditions started limiting the role of women in the church toward the end of the 1st century. But a third group–the Johannine church following John–had a different response to women’s roles. Many scholars believe the Gospel of John was written to refute the Petrine and Pauline crackdown on women’s ministry in the church. Come meet the women in this gospel and find out how this community of Christians offered a different story of women’s place in the earliest church and its ministry.

If you’re in the Chicago area, I’d be more than happy to speak at your church, women’s group or retreat, email me.

I’m speaking at my first national conference is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Prayer, Parable, Symbol by Randy OHC (Flickr)

Last month I asked if any of my readers would like me to write about any specific topics that would help you in your walks with Godde. Ally said she wanted to know about devotional practices: the things we do to walk closer to Godde and be more Christ-like.  One of the reasons it’s taken me awhile to start the series is that I’m busy working on a novel, book proposals, and am looking for freelance opportunities as well (both publishers and agents like to see published credits with a book proposal). But I’ve also been dragging my feet on this. I didn’t know why until I read this in Diana Butler Bass‘ recent book, Christianity after Religion. Bass was talking about when she presents spiritual practices, such as prayer, people automatically ask about a program. We’re so used to programs for everything in church: 40 days to this, 30 days to this, etc. Bass notes:

If you stick with the exact program, the results are guaranteed. And programs do work if you follow the steps; they work for a month or forty days or six weeks or three months. When the program ends, you will most likely go back to being exactly who you were before you started. You discover that you have not really changed at all. You are the same. And that struggle with the old sameness is especially disheartening for those seeking spiritual insight and change. Spiritual practices are more like crafts than programs. They are activities you discern, choose, and learn, actions in which you develop skill and mastery to help you become a different sort of person and, as the Willow Creek pastor said, deepen your love of God and neighbor.

I don’t have any programs. I don’t have any guaranteed ways of making you more Christ-like, loving, humble, whatever. All I can do is suggest practices that can help you draw closer to Godde and be more Christ-like because these are things that have worked for me and for the generations that come before us. As Bass notes spiritual practices are more like crafts that takes time to develop and master. Part of learning that mastery is learning about, trying and discerning which practices are right for you in this stage of your life.

Another reason I have problems writing on this subject is because our spiritual practices change over the course of our lives. I do not practice the same spiritual practices in the same way as I did 10 or 20 years ago. My two foundational practices of prayer and Bible reading are still there, but my practice is vastly different now than when I was in college. In college my prayer and Bible reading revolved around my journal. I wrote everything. The journal was what made my spiritual practices concrete in my life. Now I pray The Daily Office. The structure and liturgy of The Morning Office is what makes Bible reading and prayer concrete in my life now. I rarely journal about prayer or reading anymore, unless a verse just really hits me. Then I’ll write the verse in my journal, and using the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina meditate and contemplate on the verse and tease out what Godde is saying to me and what my response is.

Community has become much more important in my spiritual disciplines. Earlier in my life, I was fell into the “Jesus and me” myth of what I call Rugged Evangelical Individualism (instead of Rugged American Individualism). “Jesus and me” is still part of my devotional life, but community–Jesus and us–is just as important for my spirituality and relationship with Godde as what I do on my own. The older I get the more I realize why Jesus called disciples and made sure they were all together when the Spirit fell. The life Jesus calls us to lead cannot be done alone.

As we start this series on spiritual practices remember: this isn’t a program, this is a way of life. It will not look the same for you as it does for me. It will not look the same for you now as it did for you 5, 10, 15 years ago. Bass also reminds us that spiritual practices take time–a lifetime–to develop and grow:

Yet the idea that practice takes time is an important insight for Christian spirituality. Those who embark on a spiritual path do not begin with confidence or deep knowledge or insight. Indeed, when initiates begin a practice, they generally do not do that thing very well. The Christian tradition speaks of progress in practice as maturity, what Paul referred to as the “meat” of the faith (1 Cor. 3:1–4). People who intentionally engage spiritual practices grow in their understanding and awareness of God, and they get better at prayer, forgiveness, discernment, hospitality, and stewardship. The path to Christian sainthood may not be as mystical as is often thought—it may be a matter of putting in the time to practice.

I will be writing about one spiritual discipline each week, and as we do I want us to ask ourselves this question that Bass asks her audiences:

What spiritual practices give you a powerful sense of freedom and direction, of mastery and maturity, of purpose in life?

In the earliest days of Christianity, Christians were known as followers of The Way. We are following the way of life Jesus taught us to live. It will take time, practice and discernment to know what makes us follow that path more closely, what makes us closer to Jesus. But we will learn, and we will become the people Godde created us to be through our spiritual practices.

Right now: “What spiritual practices give you a powerful sense of freedom and direction, of mastery and maturity, of purpose in life?” What is working for you now? For me it is praying the Daily Office and taking long, contemplative walks. These things bring me “a powerful sense of freedom and direction…of purpose in life.” What is making you feel that way?

Spiritual Practices: Crafts not Programs is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Yes, The Hubby wrestled with the Amazon Cloud and won. We now have an MP3 of this sermon. Press the link “Anointing the King” to hear the MP3.

Annointing The King
Mark 14:1-11

(This sermon is told from the view of the woman who anointed Jesus’ head in Mark. Props: head covering, white jar or container.)

(Place container on the altar or pulpit)

By that night I had been following him for a long time. I started following him in Galilee. I saw all of his miracles, heard his teaching. I knew who Jesus was. And Godde had been telling me to do something. Something I knew women didn’t do—or just any man for that matter. This was a job for prophets and priests. But not common people and definitely not a woman. I told Godde this. I reminded him of his own actions in the past. And then passages from Isaiah came streaming through my mind: “Behold I am doing a new thing—things you could not even dream of—I will make ways where there are no ways. What I’m doing is new. No one has ever seen it before.”

On our way to Jerusalem at a little market in one of the little towns we passed through, I bought the oil, and I hid it among my things.

(Look at container)

Who’d think that such a little container could weigh so much. And how it weighed on me.

At some point Jesus started talking about what would happen in Jerusalem. How he would be betrayed and handed over to the religious authorities. How he would be crucified, and die. Then somehow how three days later rise.

At this point the Twelve’s bickering ratcheted up. “But he said he was the Messiah! The Messiah doesn’t die!”

“We have to be going to Jerusalem for him to finally make his move.”

“This dying and rising stuff must be more of his riddles. People will die, so we can raise him up to power. To be our King!”

“But is he really the Messiah? He hasn’t even started raising an army. Is he hoping the people in Jerusalem will get behind him?”

“But he says we should love our enemies—that’s the Romans, you know? What if he really does get himself killed in Jerusalem? What then?”

“What about us? Three years of our lives and for what?”

And it went on and on and on. Be glad those who wrote your gospels cut so much of their bickering and fighting out. Oy Vey they could go on forever. PAUSE But then the gospellers were good at editing their stories to suit their communities and what they thought was proper.

That’s what they did to me. My deed will always be remembered. But not my name. And the reason for my action was changed to suit what a woman could do. Not what I did.

Now I understand my story has come down to you in several stories and is confusing. Different women. Different times in the story. Different reasons. Luke even watered my act down to a penitent sinner thanking Jesus for forgiving her many sins. He removed it entirely from the Passover and Passion all together. At least John put it a week before Jesus’ death and resurrection, but then he had Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’ feet for a whole other reason.

But, you see, I didn’t anoint Jesus’ feet. I didn’t do the womanly thing—anoint him for his burial. That was women’s work back then—anointing a body for burial. Anyone who touched a corpse was considered unclean. We women were unclean for a whole week during our periods, so what’s a few more unclean days to us?

It was the night before the Passover, two days before the Crucifixion. Tensions were running high all around Jerusalem as they always did during Passover. There were Roman soldiers everywhere to squelch any uprisings or rebellions that might start. We already drawn their attention with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. There had been crowds of people cheering Jesus as he rode into the city. They called him the King of the Jews and Messiah. Then there was the fracas in the temple. Jesus’ prophecies of Jerusalem and the Temple being destroyed didn’t sit very well with anyone either. The religious leaders were trying to catch him in his words, trying to find a way to arrest him without making the crowds go crazier than they already were. The Twelve were bickering about who was the greatest, who would sit at his right and left hands when Jesus ruled.

It wasn’t hard to see where all of this was leading. And I knew. I knew when Jesus said he was here to die, he meant it. I knew it in my bones. But I also knew what Godde commanded me to do. Jesus was the Messiah, the King of the Jews. And a king must be anointed.

That night, the night before we celebrated the Passover in the Upper Room, Godde’s command came. We were at the house of Simon the Leper. I quietly left the feast and went to my things.

(Pick up the container)

I retrieved the alabaster jar that had weighed so heavily on me the last few weeks. I returned to the banquet and walked to where Jesus reclined. I stood behind him, raised the bottle, broke its seal and let the oil pour over Jesus’ head.

It ran through his hair, down his face, and it rolled through his beard. His shoulders were drenched from the nard. The smell filled the room. He was anointed: Jesus: The King! Jesus: The Messiah!

(Return container to altar or pulpit.)

For a moment there was dead silence in the room. Then all hell broke loose. “Who are to anoint the king!” yelled Peter.

“We’re his inner circle!,” thundered James. “One of us should’ve anointed him!”

No!” Judas jumped into the fray. “The anointing means nothing if a prophet or priest has not done it! We have to take Jerusalem first. Then Caiaphas will have to anoint Jesus as King of the Jews! It is time to fight!” Judas yelled, pulling out his dagger and raising it in the air.

“Enough,” said Jesus. His authoritative voice rising above all of their yelling. “Leave her alone! Why are you troubling her? She has proclaimed the truth! She has done a good deed for me. Wherever the Good News is preached in the whole world, what she had done will be told in memory of her.

“Judas put that thing away. Whoever lives by the sword dies by the sword. Have I not taught you to love your enemies and pray for them? Have you learned nothing in these last three years, any of you?”

Silence reigned in the room once again. The Twelve were horrified Jesus allowed a woman to anoint him King after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the Temple. Judas was seething. I could see him grinding his teeth to keep from saying anything. People began to pick at their food, no one quite looking at another.

None of them saw that there would be no triumphant overthrow or Messianic reign. None of them saw Jesus’ way, his way of reigning, was going to lead to very different places than what they were imagining. All they could do was fight about who should have anointed Jesus king.

I think Judas was beginning to see Jesus would not be the king he wanted. I saw him slip away from Simon’s house later that night.

I’m not sure when changes were made to my story. Changes like me anointing his feet as well as his head then just his feet. I don’t know when the anointing became just about his burial and not his kingship. I don’t know when or why the anointing story got moved first a week before the Passover then a few days before that. I don’t know when Mary of Bethany became the anointer. I don’t know when the argument became about the waste of money and not that a woman anointed Jesus as King of the Jews. Although I’m sure that’s the first part of the story that was changed. Then there’s Luke. Luke moved it entirely out of the Passion narrative and Jerusalem. His anointing takes place it in Galilee. There the woman who anointed Jesus was a sinner, nudge nudge, wink wink, a whore, and the anointing of the King was lost entirely. For the record: I was never a whore.

I was one of those women of means like Mary Magdalene and Joanna who followed Jesus in Galilee and then onto Jerusalem. I was one of Jesus’ disciples. I heard his teaching. I saw his miracles. And I saw things the Twelve didn’t see because they ran away. I saw his trial. I saw Jesus crucified. I watched him take his final breath. I stood vigil with his mother and Mary Magdalene and Salome, as we watched Joseph and Nicodemus lay him in the tomb. We held that vigil for hours until the Roman soldiers made us leave.

“Where ever the Good News is preached—in all the world—this story will be told in remembrance of her.” In memory of me. I know it’s a bit ironic my name was forgotten. But does it matter? No, it doesn’t. Because all of us are anointers. All of us in our daily lives anoint Jesus as king. When we help someone, when say kind words, when we love our neighbor we anoint Jesus as king. In a small act of giving change to a homeless man or a large act like marching through our city holding vigil against the violence in our city, we anoint Jesus as king. All of us by our lives, our words, and our acts of love anoint Jesus as King and Messiah. This story is told in memory of us.

Maundy Thursday Sermon Podcast: Anointing the King is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Florence Nightingale

I often say that Brigid of Kildare was my first patron saint, and she is because I chose her as my patron saint after I knew what they were as adult. But as a child I chose another woman. I would have never called her a patron saint: the religious environment I grew up in didn’t have those. But looking back now I realize that Florence Nightingale was my first patron saint. I found a biography of her in the school library when I was in grade school. I’m not sure how old I was. I think third or fourth grade. I fell in love with her. She immediately became a twin spirit. I read everything my public school library had then went to the public library. I was dismayed that most of the biographies there were for adults, and I tried to read them, but they were over my head.

Florence was a fighter. She didn’t settle for the life everyone else wanted her to have. She heard Godde’s voice, and she knew Godde had a calling on her life, but she had to wait many years to realize that calling (so did I). I admired the way she made her own decisions and her bravery in going to be a nurse during the Crimean War. I got out our huge Atlas to find out where Crimea was then I had to find a history book to know why there was a war there. I read in awe of how she invented modern nursing and treated the soldiers as men and human beings and not “the hopeless brutes. You cannot expect anything from them” that one of the officers told her (James Kiefer). Realizing the men spent their pay on alcohol because there was nothing else for them to buy, she set up a writing room for them where they could write their families and send money home. The authorities at the hospital wouldn’t let her do it, so she appealed to Queen Victoria, and got her writing room. British soldiers “sent home 71,000 pounds sterling in less than six months” (Kiefer).

Conditions in hospitals at the time were appalling, with sheets not being changed nor bandages being washed and used again. Florence, earning the doctor’s trust instituted new sanitation guidelines with regular changing of sheets, using new bandages, and making sure blanket’s were not rotting away in a storehouse when they were needed in the hospital. She also started sanitizing the equipment needed for operations and procedures.

When I was eight or nine years old, I wanted to be Florence Nightingale. I started checking out books on being a nurse. Not long into that reading spree my mother gently told me, “Shawna, you can’t stand the sign of blood, and nurses see a lot of blood everyday. I’m not sure nursing is right for you.” (She was right: to this day when I have a blood draw, I have to look away. No way I would’ve made it through nursing school). I was devastated. But like the typical eight or nine year old, I quickly found something else I wanted to be.

I hadn’t thought about Florence for years then I picked up Edith Deen’s Great Women of the Christian Faith, and there in its pages I once again found my childhood heroine. And I found out my path had actually run pretty close to Florence’s. At the time I was in college preparing to be a pastor: a doctor of souls. A lot of the reasons Florence felt called to be a nurse, I felt called to be a pastor. I found out we where both 17 when we were called into Godde’s service, and that neither one of us was sure what that meant. I assumed I’d be a missionary because in the Southern Baptist Church that was the only ministry that was open to me as a woman.

Edith Deen writes:

Like Joan of Arc, she heard a voice outside herself when she was seventeen. She was sure that God had called her to His service, and she was filled with confidence and faith, relates Cecil Woodham-Smith, in her biography entitled Florence Nightingale. Florence felt that God spoke to her directly four times after this, and she gave the exact dates later in her life. By the time she was twenty-four, she knew that her destiny was to serve the sick and dying (p. 214).

Godde also spoke to me after the initial calling and my calling blossomed into pastoring, preaching, writing, and spiritual director. Florence’s call was to care for and heal bodies. My call is to take care and heal souls. Both our calls grew and changed over the years. Florence started out in hospitals in the poorer districts of London then she went on to Kaiserwerth Germany to study with the Institute of Protestant Deaconesses, who ran a hospital. After that she volunteered to nurse in the Crimean War.

In Crimea Florence’s work did not end with her shift. Her stamina was incredible, and she was known to be on her feet twenty hours a day.

The London Times reported: “When all the medical officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds” (Deen, 217).

The Lady with the Lamp was her affectionate nickname from the soldiers who watched for her light and some would even kiss her shadow as she passed.

She had to return to England after she came down with hospital fever. She had been in Crimea for two years. After her return to England she revolutionized the nursing profession with her Notes on Nursing, which became a classic guide. She was given 250,000 pounds, which she used to “found the Nightingale Home for Nurses at St. Thomas’s Hospital” (Deen, 217).

I’ve watched my own call grow and develop over the years taking me places I never thought I’d go either. I will never have the influence of Florence or make any groundbreaking work and revolutionize a vocation the way she did. But my sister still holds her light and beckons me on. And I still follow.

August 12 is Florence Nightingale’s feast day in The Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. Here is the prayer for that day.

Life-giving God, who alone have power over life and death, over health and sickness: Give power, wisdom, and gentleness to those who follow the example of your servant Florence Nightingale, that they, bearing with them your Presence, may not only heal but pain and fear; through Jesus Christ, the healer of body and of soul, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources:

Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen, (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour and Company, Inc. 1959).

“Florence Nightingale: Nurse, Renewer of Society” by James Kiefer.

Women’s History Month: Florence Nightingale is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

I hope everyone has a good week. I would also like to know what you need direction in in your own spiritual life. I am a spiritual director, and I would like to write posts to help my readers discern the paths and purposes Godde may have in store for them. Or you may want to talk about practices and disciplines that open you to Godde and hearing her voice. Tell me where you need direction in your spiritual life. I also do one-on-one sessions. The first 30 minute session is free for us to get to know each other, and to see if I would be good fit for you. After that 1 hour sessions are $75 or 3 sessions for $150. Email Me to set up an appointment.

Where do you need help in your spiritual walk?

New Testament, Divine Feminie Version: Romans Is Available is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

The Daphne Statues at Northerly Island, Chicago

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.

The Trinity made sense to me after the first time I sang this hymn in church a few years ago. Instead of all of the theological and philosophical arguments about  Homo Ousion (same substance) vs. Homoi Ousion (like substance) or hypostasis (one person, 3 substances or elements). (Remember I was a theology major.) Then there’s the simplistic way of thinking of Godde as ice that has 3 different forms, but I’m not seven years old anymore. This song made the Trinity real to me as an adult. All dancers are connected and separate. All are dancing in harmony, but not necessarily the same steps. In couples dancing, one of the partners normally leads. In line and circle dances no one leads, and if you don’t know how to do the dance, you just join in. People teach you the steps as you go.

I was reminded of this realization while reading Cynthia Bourgeault’s The Wisdom of Jesus as she explained how scholars and mystics from an early Eastern branch of the church, the Cappadocians viewed the Trinity. They called the relationship between the Trinity perichoresis, which Bourgault reminds us means “the dance around.”

One of the arguments that is made for male headship is that someone has to have the last word. There has to be a leader when an agreement can’t be made. They picture that is how the Trinity works too with Godde the Father being at the top of the totem pole. They use what is known as the Kenosis (Self-emptying) Hymn from Philippians 2:5-11 to subordinate Jesus the Son to Godde the Father, not just for his earthly life but for all of eternity.

Have this attitude, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, being in the form of Godde,
didn’t consider equality with Godde
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied herself,
taking the form of a bondservant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
So Godde also highly exalted him,
and gave to him the name
above every name;
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, those on earth,
and those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of Godde the Mother (Philippians 2:5-11, DFV).

Complementarians take this self-emptying act of love (kenosis), and use it to eternally subordinate Jesus to the Father in order to keep women eternally subordinated to men. But as Bourgeault reminds us the Cappadocian writers and mystics interpreted these verses very differently:

They saw it as an outpouring of love: from Father to Son, from Son to Spirit, from Spirit back to the Father. And the word used to describe these mutual outpourings is the same word that we’ve been looking at—kenosis.

The Trinity, understood in a wisdom sense, is really an icon of self-emptying love. The three persons go round and round like buckets on a watermill, constantly overspilling into one another. And as they do so, the mill turns and the energy of love becomes manifest and accessible. The Cappadocians called this complete intercirculation of love perichoresis, which literally means ‘the dance around.’ Their wonderful and profound insight is that God reveals his own innermost nature through a continuous round dance of self-emptying (p. 72).

Now I know my metaphor is not perfect. As I said before there are couple dances where one partner, usually the man, leads. But couple dances aren’t the only dances. One of the first dances I learned was in grade school: square dancing, where none of the dancers lead, but there is a step caller. I grew up in Oklahoma and danced couple dances like the two-step and waltz, but we also line danced (Cotton Eye Joe is my favorite). Like the round dances Bourgeault mentions, line dances do not have leaders. Dancers line up, sometimes they join hands or put their arms around each other, and they dance in step listening to the music, everyone doing their thing. If someone who doesn’t know how to dance wants to join, room is made, and the steps are shown. There is room for everyone, no one has to lead and no one has to follow.

Not only do I see this as a wonderful way to look at the Trinity but also at the church. Only with the church I would go with square dancing. Of course then the Trinity, Godde the Father and Mother, Jesus the Son (or Lord of the Dance), and the Holy Spirit are calling the steps. But the dancers—male and female—are on mutual ground dancing and weaving in and out of one another. When someone wants to join the dance, we make room and show them the steps as Godde leads.

The Trinity and the church, particularly church leadership, does not need to be a hierarchy to keep things under control. We don’t have to be good, little soldiers falling in line when the General commands it. We can be dancers going hand from hand, swirling each other around, dancing do si dos, weaving in and out of each other following the Lord of the Dance and listening to the calling of the Spirit.

“Lord of the Dance” by Sydney Carter

I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Chorus: Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe
And the pharisee,
But they would not dance
And they wouldn’t follow me.
I danced for the fishermen,
For James and John -
They came with me
And the Dance went on.

Chorus

I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.

Chorus

I danced on a Friday
When the sky turned black -
It’s hard to dance
With the devil on your back.
They buried my body
And they thought I’d gone,
But I am the Dance,
And I still go on.

Chorus

They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you
If you’ll live in me -
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.

Chorus

The Eternal Dance of the Trinity is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Iron Sky Woman was married to Enmegahbowh, an Episcopal priest, and they did mission work work in Minnesota Iron Sky Woman’s people:

There he met an Episcopal priest, Ezekiel Gear, who gifted him with a Book of Common Prayer. Before long the course of his journey was set toward ministry and service to his people.

But given the wide expanse of his heart, he honored and protected not only his people, but all people. Fast forward 17 years to the mission of St. Columba’s where he served as deacon. In 1862, Indian uprisings surged across the state.  Church historian Theodore Holcombe wrote of that period, “Enmegahbowh was a tower of strength to the Indian mission in all its years of trial and danger, and it was through his courage and bravery in warning the white settlers that a terrible massacre [of whites and native people] was averted.”

While this is widely known, it’s less known that Chief Hole-in-the-Day II – Enmegahbowh’s brother by adoption and Iron Sky Woman’s cousin – initiated the collusion between several tribal leaders that would have wiped out the white settlement. Hole-in-the-Day II’s displeasure with Enmegahbowh for thwarting his plans was made manifest when he sent two tribal members to his house to kill him.

According to Holcombe’s 1903 account, the assassins arrived about 9:00 am. Although he had been warned and was expecting them, Enmegahbowh’s conscience did not permit him to handle firearms. However in this instance, “he stretched a point, and loaded his double-barrel gun, and gave it to his wife who was known to be a good shot, and who had asked him to let her take the matter into her own hands.”

Iron Sky Woman threw open the door as they approached and shouted: “I know what you have come for, but the first one who shows a weapon, I will shoot down like a dog.”

Holcombe continued,

“They knew her reputation as a woman of spirit, and skill with the gun, and at once abandoned their design, and made her a present. These same Indians confessed they had been sent by Hole-in-the-Day, and acknowledged that Enmegahbowh had not only saved the whites, but also the Indians also from being all destroyed by the government, so there was cause for mutual congratulations.”

Iron Sky Woman thank you for giving me one more confirmation that you can be a Christian and do whatever is needed to protect your loved ones and still obey Godde.

Women’s History Month: Iron Sky Woman is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

This is an old Irish prayer attributed to St. Patrick, and it is one of my favorite prayers. It is also known as “The Deer’s Cry.” I recommend that you follow Angelinasings on YouTube. She has a wonderful voice. The lyrics for the breastplate follow the video. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through the belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness

Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,

Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,

Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,

Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In the service of archangels,

In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In prayers of patriarchs,

In predictions of prophets,

In preaching of apostles,

In faith of confessors,

In innocence of holy virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

I arise today

Through God’s strength to pilot me:

God’s might to uphold me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look before me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me,

God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,

God’s host to save me

From snares of devils,

From temptations of vices,

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,

Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness,

Of the Creator of Creation.

(From Wikipedia)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day: St. Patrick’s Breastplate is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Aquila and Priscilla

Anyone who’s read 1 Corinthians 7 knows that the Apostle Paul was not a big fan of marriage, and thought it should be avoided if at all possible. Here are a few of his thoughts on marriage:

Now about what you wrote: “It’s good for people not to touch each other.” But because of promiscuity, everyone should have their own spouse. Spouses should fulfill their duty to each other. Committed people don’t have authority over their own bodies, but their spouses do. Don’t deprive each other, except by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to [fasting and] prayer, and then come together again so the Satan won’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But I say this as a concession, not as a precept. I actually wish that all people were like me. But everyone has their own gift from Godde; one has this and another has that.

I say to the single and widowed, it’s good for them if they remain like me. But if they don’t have self-control, they should marry, because it’s better to marry than to burn with passion. (1 Corinthians 7:1-9, DFV)

But I want you to be carefree. Whoever isn’t married cares about the Lady’s business, how they may please the Lady; but whoever is married cares about the things of the world, how they may please their spouse, and they’re distracted. The single or celibate person cares about the Lady’s business, so that they may be holy both in body and in spirit. But whoever is married cares about worldly business, how they may please their spouse (1 Corinthians 7:32-34, DFV).

Ah Paul, you old curmudgeon. The thing I hate the most about his allowance to marriage is that  he doesn’t even use his own Jewish tradition to defend marriage. He says, “Well, OK, if you’re going to screw anything with two legs then get married, but you really should be a curmudgeonly celibate single like me. And if you stay single and celibate you’ll be a better Christian because you won’t have those distractions married people have. They can’t serve Godde like we can.” (Disclaimer: I was single for 36 years and loved it–thought for awhile I might not marry–now I am married. I LOVE being married. I’ve been happy on both sides of the fence.)

Here is what Paul’s defense of marriage should have looked like:

Dear sister and brother, remember why our Godde created marriage in the first place. In the beginning…

Sophia-Yahweh said, “It is not good for the human to be alone. I will make it a power equal to it.”

Sophia-Yahweh caused the human to fall into a deep sleep. As the human slept, Godde took one of its ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Sophia-Yahweh made a woman from the rib which was taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man.” Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh (Genesis 2:18, 21-24, adapted from the World English Bible).

So you see dear sisters and brothers in Corinth, it is fine if you want to stay single, but marriage is Godde-ordained as well. Godde made marriage because it was not good for the human to be alone. Now the communion does not have to be marriage–that’s why Jesus had disciples. It is not good for us to be alone, which is why we need both marriage and community. We can’t make it though this life alone. Both marriage and celibacy have their place in the world and in the community. Some will stay single like me. Most will marry like Peter and his wife (1 Corinthians 9:5), Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2), and Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7). Both celibates and couples can serve Godde and bring Godde’s kingdom into the here and now by loving each other, loving the stranger, and showing the world around us that life can be different.

That’s what Paul should’ve said to the Corinthians.

Crossposted at The Christian Godde Project.

What Paul Should’ve Said to the Corinthians Regarding Marriage is a post from: Shawna R. B. Atteberry