Let me start by owning the fact that there’s a whole lot going on in my head just now. And my heart. And my spirit. (Also, my house… but that’s a story for another day!)
My hands have joined in, too, with whole lots of writing and painting.
It’s a very Advent-like feeling, for I am great with Soul Work!
Thus, is was no particular surprise when Grandmother Moon, who watched a whole lot of MSNBC yesterday, went – as we’d say in the South – to meddlin’ again this morning!
One sentence:
Mary had a choice!
And, yes, it was time for lights and tea and reading!
Which was a huge reminder of just how challenging language can be. So I’m owning, up front and out loud, that I have a vested interest in nouns and pronouns. Not the vested interest of power-over, all too common in the history of our Holy Books, but, rather, the vested interest of power-for.
Power for voice and choice. Power for personal sovereignty.
So, tea at hand, I began with my most familiar, most underlined, preaching Bible. The Gospel according to Luke.
Please don’t run off and do laundry just now. It’s the Fiercely Compassionate Grandmother in me who is telling this story. I promise!
Luke begins at the beginning with the story known as the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel has appeared to Mary with big news!
And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. (Luke 1: 31-32, NRSV)
You probably know the rest of the story. Here’s what Grandmother Moon wanted me to highlight…
First, Mary is referred to as a virgin. That has often been assumed to mean simply a young woman who is untouched.
Once upon a time, though, as author, Madison Griffiths, and others explain, it was used specifically to describe a free woman – independent, autonomous, untied.
Which brings us back to Grandmother Moon’s ah-hah, with an approved update…
Mary made a choice!
And she agreed to what was to come with words that have been translated this way:
Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word… (Luke 1: 38, NRSV)
I hear you! The word servant is uncomfortable for many of us in this day. In Greek, though, the word is doula which – intentionally, I suspect – is now used for those who attend births… One who mothers the mother.
All of which is to say that words matter and they’re complex. And, in this case, they become a story which reminds us that Mary had a choice to make – in a time when women had very few choices – and she said YES!
And, as my favorite version of the story goes, she went on, with other Marys, to be a leader in the ministry of her son.
Meanwhile, war rages on. Autocrats are multiplying. Civil rights – and women’s voices – are being slashed by very public people who claim to be guided by the Bible. And we need the voices of women making choices, in their sovereignty, for peace and justice. For hope. There is much, much more work to be done… and we – whatever our traditions – have the power to say yes!
I have 2 granddaughters trying very hard to grow up in this world!
Gnostic Judeo-Christian Mystic Medicine Woman walking the Way of Love
(aka: The Fiercely Compassionate Rebel Grandmother, For Rent!)
ps… curious about the vocabulary lesson??? You can read more, here…
pps… prefer stories over vocabulary lessons??? Kathleen McGowan. The Expected One, to begin with. Then, the rest!
ppps… ready to say yes to YOU??? I have a plan. A plan for the next step. It’s half-fun AND full-serious. (And only takes about 1 1/2 hours!) My gift!!! email me at suesvoice@gmail.com if you’d like details and an invitation! Really!!!
