Woman of the Week: Mapule Ramashala and living forgiveness

Yes, this week’s Woman of the Week is posted early. I read this story, and I could not wait until Thursday to post it. From The Christian Century (December 2, 2008):

Mapule Ramashala, a black South African, was verbally harassed when she moved into a white suburb. Some youths tried to burn down her house. But after police arrested 12 youths for the crime Ramashala refused to press charges. Instead she met with the parents of the youths, telling them that she assumed they would organize the community to help her rebuild her house. She arranged for the youths who were charged with arson to perform community service. And she met with them periodically to see what was happening in their lives and to check on their progress in school. The community rallied around the task of restoring Ramashala’s house and came to accept her into the community (Religion and Theology, volume 15).

This is what it looks like to be Christ in the world. Mapule Ramashala, I hope to one day meet you.

Other Women of the Week:

Sarah: She was not dispensableHilda of Whitby: The woman who stood with bishops

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Happy Thanksgiving

The Hubby and I are heading out tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I will be gone this week. Posting will resume on December 1.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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RevGals Friday Five: Mix and Stir Edition

Songbird needs help this week: “In a minor domestic crisis, my food processor, or more precisely the part you use for almost everything for which I use a food processor, picked the eve of the festive season of the year to give up the ghost. A crack in the lid expanded such that a batch of squash soup had to be liberated via that column shaped thing that sticks up on top.

Can you tell this is not my area of strength?

Next week, I’m hosting Thanksgiving. I need your help. Please answer the following kitchen-related questions:”

1) Do you have a food processor? Can you recommend it? Which is to say, do you actually use it?

No, I don’t. Not enough room.

2) And if so, do you use the fancy things on it? (Mine came with a mini-blender (used a lot and long ago broken) and these scary disks you used to julienne things (used once).)

See above. (I might not be much help to you on this one.)

3) Do you use a standing mixer? Or one of the hand-held varieties?

I have a hand-held mixer that I love. If I get a bigger kitchen at some point, I would like a standing mixer.

(And isn’t that color delightfully retro?)

Yes, it is. đŸ™‚

4) How about a blender? Do you have one? Use it much?

I have a blender I use some. I need to get a stick blender. I would use that more.

5) Finally, what old-fashioned, non-electric kitchen tool do you enjoy using the most?

A whisk.

Bonus: Is there a kitchen appliance or utensil you ONLY use at Thanksgiving or some other holiday? If so, what is it?

Nope, I use them all throughout the year. Of course we’re always away visiting family over the holidays.

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Career Women of the Bible: Phoebe

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well (Rom. 16:1-2). Paul trusted Phoebe enough to entrust his letter to the Romans to her. She is a woman Paul highly commended and respected. She is a “sister,” “deacon,” and “benefactor” to the church at Cenchreae as well as a sister and benefactor to Paul.

Paul uses the word, diakonos to describe Phoebe. The odd thing about Paul using this word to describe Phoebe is that it is the masculine form used to describe a woman. The feminine form is diakona. Most versions translate diakonos as “servant” here, but when it used to describe men, it is translated as “deacon.” It is also paired with “of the church of Cenchreae” This is the only place in the New Testament where diakonos is followed by a specific congregation in a genitive construct: she was the deacon of the church in Cenchreae. This is the only place linking a specific person’s ministry with a specific church. This seems to indicate that Phoebe served as a deacon or pastor in the church at Cenchreae.

Paul uses another word to describe Phoebe: prostatis. This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. It is also another word that is translated so that its main meaning is not obvious in the translation. The normal translation is “helper” or someone who has helped. In secular Greek sources, the basic and most obvious translation of the word is patron or benefactor, and women in this role, are well attested in the Roman world. Women who were benefactors in the Roman world supported the arts and temples, as well as philosophers and debaters. Phoebe was a wealthy woman who served the church out of her means as the women in Luke 8 served Jesus out of theirs.

Aida Besançon Spencer has also suggested that prostatis could be derived from the verb proistemi, which means to “to stand, place before or over,” or “to help by ruling” (Before the Curse, 115). The times the verb appears in the New Testament it has the meaning of ruling or governing (Rom. 12:8; 1 Thes. 5:12-13). In the Pastoral Epistles this word is used to describe bishops and deacons governing their households well. In other Greek sources, such as Josephus, the masculine form of the verb is used to describe rulers and leaders like Moses, Herod, and Agrippa (ibid). This word could mean that Phoebe was a ruler or another overseer in the church.

Phoebe was an independent woman who had her own means, and served the church in a leadership role. Paul comes very close to commanding churches he had no hand in planting, and Christians, most of whom had never met him, to welcome her and provide anything she needed because she was both a deacon and a benefactor/ruler in the church. She was not only the benefactor and leader in the church at Cenchreae, but Paul himself had also benefited from her generous rule.

Find out more about The Career Women of the Bible.

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RevGals Friday Five: Remembrance Day

Sophia says: “Earlier this week the U.S. celebrated Veterans’ Day, known in many other countries as Remembrance Day. At this time last year I was commuting to a postdoc in Canada, and I was moved by the many red poppies that showed up there on people’s lapels in honor of the observance. Unlike a flag lapel pin, which to me has political connotations and implies approval of our current war, the poppies simply honor the sacrifice and dedication of those who have followed their consciences by serving–sometimes dying–in the military.

This week’s Friday Five invites reflection on the theme of remembrance, which is also present in the feasts of All Saints, celebrated in many liturgical churches on November 1, and All Souls–known in Latin@ cultures as the Day of the Dead–celebrated in some the following day. “

1. Did your church have any special celebrations for All Saints/All Soul’s Day?

Yes, we celebrated All Saints Day and remembered the saints and those who had died in the last year.  Sophia was in Chicago, and she and her husband came over to spend time with Tracy and me. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and love.

2. How about Veterans’ Day?

We sang to songs for the veterans and had prayer for the veterans and those serving today, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

3. Did you and your family have a holiday for Veterans’ Day/Remembrance Day? If so, how did you take advantage of the break?

No, we didn’t. My sister and I had the day out of school, but Mom and Dad usually worked. Same now: I could take the day off, but Tracy was at work.

4. Is there a veteran in your life, living or dead, whose dedication you remember and celebrate? Or perhaps a loved one presently serving in the armed forces?

Yes, both of my grandfathers served during WW2. My maternal grandfather was in the Pacific and my paternal grandfather in Europe. I also remembered my friend from high school who is currently serving in Iraq.

5. Do you have any personal rituals which help you remember and connect with loved ones who have passed on?

Yes, I remember them and imagine them as part of the great cloud of saints that is around me cheering me on.

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Woman of the Week: Sarah

Editor’s Note: Every Thursday I will be posting a “Woman of the Week.” This is a woman I will choose from the Bible, history, and even women who are living and breathing. If you have any suggestions for the future “Women of the Week,” please leave your responses in the comments.

Everybody thought Sarah was dispensable, even Sarah. We first meet Sarah when she is 65, right after God calls Abraham to leave his home in Haran and go to Canaan. We find out two things about Sarah: she is Abraham’s wife, and she is barren. We find this out right after God promises to make Abraham’s descendants a nation. But Sarah is barren. Where will these descendants come from? Abraham and Sarah pack up their household and head to Canaan. When they arrive they don’t spend too much time there. There is a famine in the land, and they move onto Egypt where there is food.

Apparently Sarah was quite the looker at 65. This is the first time that Abraham views Sarah as dispensable. Abraham is afraid that someone will kill him in order to have Sarah, so he asks Sarah to pretend to be his sister. She does, and Pharaoh adds her to his harem. Abraham is richly rewarded for giving his “sister” to Pharaoh with gold, silver, animals, and slaves. But God does not see Sarah as dispensable. God comes to Pharaoh in a dream and tells him that Sarah is Abraham’s wife and to return to her to her husband. Pharaoh does so the next day and tells Abraham to leave. They return to Canaan.

Not long after this, it is Sarah who views herself as dispensable. She tells Abraham, “God has kept me from having children. Take my slave-girl, and I will have children by her.” This was a common custom in the Sumerian (modern Iran) culture they came from. If a wife could not have a child, she could give one of her slaves to her husband to have children for her. The slave would become the husband’s concubine. Surrogate mothers are nothing new. Abraham takes Sarah’s slave, Hagar, and she conceives. But things do not go as planned. Hagar is no longer a slave, but a second wife. Sarah is old and barren. Hagar is young and pregnant. We don’t exactly what Hagar did, but in the next verse Sarah is complaining to Abraham: “When Hagar found out she was pregnant, she looked on me with contempt. God judge between us!”

Hagar does not remain Abraham’s concubine for long. He gives her back to Sarah and says, “She is your slave. Do with her what you see fit.” Jealous Sarah abuses Hagar, who runs away. Hagar meets the angel of Yahweh, who tells her to go back to her mistress. But God extends God’s covenant to Hagar and her child: she will have a son and name him Ishmael, and he too, will become a nation. Hagar says, “Have I just seen God and lived.” She is the first person to name God: The God who sees me (I will do a complete post on Hagar in the future). She returns and Ishmael is born.

Many years pass, and Ishmael is Abraham’s only son, his only heir. Three strangers come to visit Abraham and Sarah. One of the visitors turns out to be God. Abraham invites them to stay, and he and Sarah prepare a meal for them. While they are eating, God asks Abraham, “Where is Sarah?” Abraham answers that she is in her tent. In fact, Sarah is listening to their conversation just inside the tent. God tells Abraham, “At this time next year, Sarah will have a son.” Sarah does the only thing she can do: laugh. She is 89 years old. She says to herself, “After all of these years, now that I’m old and dried up, will I now have children?” God wants to know why Sarah is laughing. Sarah denies it. But God says, “Oh yes, you did laugh.” And her son’s name will always remind her of that laughter.

But we see that Abraham hasn’t quite wrapped his head around Sarah having a son (most likely neither has Sarah). They journey to Gerar where Abimlech is king. I don’t know what kind of knock-out Sarah was, but at 89 years old, Abraham was still afraid of having someone kill him and take her. They once again do the brother/sister routine. They both once again view Sarah as dispensable to God’s covenant, and the future that God has promised them. Abimelech takes Sarah as his wife, but God does not let it get far. On their wedding night God afflicts Abimelech, his household, and his land with some kind of disease where they cannot bear children. God comes to Abimelech and tells him that Sarah is Abraham’s wife and to return her to him. Abimelech obeys and gives Sarah back to Abraham the next morning. He wants to know why they have deceived him. Abraham said that he only told a half-lie. Yes, Sarah is his wife, but she is also his half-sister. They have different mothers, but the same father. Abraham and Sarah may view Sarah as dispensable and replaceable, but God does not. God does not allow Abraham to replace Sarah, and God does not allow Sarah to replace herself with Hagar. His covenant with Abraham is for both Abraham and Sarah: their son will be the heir of the covenant.

In the next chapter Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac, to laughter (Isaac’s name means to laugh). Sarah is 90 years old and now her laughter is laughter of joy. She rejoices at Isaac’s circumcision and says, “Who ever thought that Sarah would nurse a baby? And yet I have given Abraham a son in our old age.” In God’s plan Sarah was indispensable and irreplaceable. The covenant God made with Abraham was not just with Abraham. God made the covenant with both Abraham and Sarah. And when the two tried to replace Sarah with Hagar, God in God’s mercy and grace extended that covenant to Hagar and Ishmael.

One of the last glimpses we see of Sarah is not a pleasant one. Her jealousy once again rises when she sees Isaac and Ishmael playing together. Her son will not share his inheritance with that slave woman’s son. She tells Abraham, “Send that slave woman and her son away. He will not inherit with my son. Isaac will be your only heir.” Abraham is troubled, but God tells him to listen to Sarah. The next morning Abraham gives meager supplies to Hagar and Ishmael and sends them off. At the end of their food and water, Hagar despairs and knows they will die. But once again God comes to her, shows her a spring, and reassures her that Ishmael too will grow into a numerous people.

The next time we hear of Sarah, she has died. Abraham buys a cave at Machpelah to bury her. Not only was Sarah buried in the cave, but so was Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah. These are Sarah’s descendants who will be the beginning of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah that would give birth to a numerous people and to an entire nation. Through Sarah’s self-doubt, barrenness, jealousy, and thinking she could be replaced, God stays with her. God does not allow God’s plans and purposes for her life to be thwarted. Abraham and Sarah may have thought Sarah was dispensable, but God never did.

You can find out more about Sarah in Genesis 12–22.

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Veteran's Day: Thank you

“Eternal Father, Strong to Save” by William Whiting and Robert Nelson Spencer

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain
O’er which our traffic runs a main
By mountain pass or valley low:
Wherever, Lord, our brethren go,
Protect them by Thy guarding hand
From ev’ry peril on the land.

O Spirit, whom the Father sent
To spread abroad the firmament:
O Wind of Heaven, by Thy might
Save all who dare the eagle’s flight,
And keep them by Thy watchful care
From ev’ry peril in the air.

O Trinity of love and pow’r,
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them where so e’er they go.
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad praise from air and land and sea.

Stanzas 2 & 3 (c)The Church Pension Fund.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (From The Book of Common Prayer.)

To all veterans and soldiers thank you for your service and sacrifice.

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Being a part of history

The excitement and hope were tangible in the air of Grant Park at the Obama rally. When Tracy and I arrived at the rally, Pennsylvania had already went to Obama, and we were waiting for the three biggies: Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. The park was alive with anticipation. Then it happened: Ohio went to Obama and then Virginia. The park erupted in cheers. And minutes later the news we had been praying for and hoping for: Barak Obama was declared the President Elect. The entire field (and I’m sure all of Grant Park and most of Chicago) exploded in cheers, yelling, and clapping. People were jumping up and down and holding on to one another. After I got done jumping up and down, I kissed My Hubby and held on to him. We were a part of history: the largest election turnout ever and the first African-American president. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., appeared on the jumbotron, and that picture of tears streaming down his face captured the entire night.

I now have hope that our country can go in a different direction. That we will once again make peace instead of war (It’s nice to know that we now have a Christian president that takes The Sermon on the Mount seriously. What would happen if more Christians took The Sermon on the Mount more seriously and literally?). That the tax cuts going to the wealthiest people and corporations at the expense of most Americans will stop. As President-Elect Obama said, it will take a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but we now have leadership that will help us get our economy back on track and begin to get us out of Bush’s personnel war with Iraq. And oddly enough, I believed what Obama said. I haven’t believed a word that’s come out President Bush’s mouth in over four years. But the Bush reign is over. On January 21 the real work will begin. And yes, President Obama, I will be a part of it.

Here are the pictures I took last night.

Me amongst 65,000 friends

Tracy

Tracy in a sea of faces

Right after Barak Obama was declared the new president

The Stage

The Field Museum

Reaction the Obama family taking stage

Listening to the President Elect

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Election Day Prayer

Lord God of all creation,

You rule and judge all nations,
You scatter the arrogant of mind and heart,
You cast down rulers from their thrones and raise up the lowly.

Today we elect those who will serve in our government:
the voices that call us to go this way or that way are confusing,
the signs of these times that we must discern are tragic and unjust,
the culture of death that afflicts all people is powerful.

Open our eyes to see your Reign in history,
our hearts to share your love with all people,
our ears to hear the cry of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among us.

Send your Holy Spirit upon the people of this land:
Teach us to make wise and prudent decisions.
Increase our faith and hope.
Help us to live the Gospel we profess.

May all who are elected this day:
do justice,
love goodness,
and walk humbly before You and all people.

We ask for these blessings,
confident in your providence through all time,
calling upon Mary our Mother
and all the saints who have served the cause of justice,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, Redeemer and Savior, Amen.

H/T to Polisigh for both the prayer and the picture.

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Making history tomorrow night

Hutchison Field in Grant Park. Picture taken by Scott Olsen, Getty Images.

The Obama rally in Grant Park is two blocks from us, and we have tickets. We will be part of the 65,000 people that will be in the part of the park around the stage. But there is a lot of Grant Park, and the city is expecting 1,000,000 people to be in the Grant Park area. Hopefully, we will be celebrating the election of President Barak Obama (to be honest, I don’t think this country can survive another war-mongering, de-regulating, Republican president. Yeah, the markets did really well regulating themselves).

I am more than ready to say good-bye to this:

Goodbye and good riddance. And may the Republicans lose this election by a landslide, so that the true fiscal and social conservatives will take the party back from the religous right wingnuts and the captialist-run-amok wingnuts. I know from this post and previous political posts, it appears I’m a Democrat, but I’m not: I’m an Independent. And I don’t mind voting for Republicans that are not in one of the wingnut groups (same goes for Democrats and their wingnut parts).

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