Conceive

Lately I've been studying mothers in the Bible. There are examples of women who were unable to conceive, but eventually all of them gave birth. Where are the stories of the women who never had children? Is Anna from the temple one of those women? What about the woman with the issue of blood? So often fertility is used as a spiritual marker in the Old and New Testaments. Surely there were faithful women of God who desperately wanted to give birth, but did not.

I wonder, if their stories were a part of the Bible, would infertility be less stigmatized? If pastors could stand in their pulpits on Sunday morning and share the words of childless couples who parted oceans and led their people to safety, would those unable to give birth feel comforted? Does what we say (or don't say) in sermons have the power to affect the way those who are infertile view their state?

Yes, yes it does. Pulpits can encourage and de-stigmatize. The church can increase maternal health. Positive Body Theology is of utmost importance and Sunday morning sermons are exactly where it needs to be discussed.
S

photo courtesy of MassDistraction's flickr photostream.

Aunt Esther's Advice

I should be writing about maternal health and the benefits of economic development. I need to be soliciting support for universal girls' education. And there is that post on the summit the Religious Institute led in Atlanta last month. Still trying to get copious amounts of words on dissertation pages. Instead I will post this picture of my $1 estate sale find.

"'Take the plunge,' Aunt Esther advised. 'What the hell.' In the desultory scatter of her senior year - a bemused, irritable period of killing time like what Essie imagined pregnancy to be - she found herself . . . "
In the Beauty of the Lilies by John Updike

You

This morning I pulled out candles from Idjitmi and thought of you. I thought of you Brandy and your sparkling eyes filled with camp week excitement. I thought of you Hephzibah and my favorite vesper memory ever. I thought of candlelight and morning watch. I thought of Pinnacle Knob and hiking in the rain. I thought of that magical time between staff meeting and lunch where the day was free to be whatever it wanted.

Today my WMU perpetual calendar is telling me to "Think long thoughts," courtesy of Fannie E.S. Heck. Today I thought of you.
S

Mothers are Powerful Pt. 2

Mothers love fiercely. Aren't we thankful. It's parents weekend on my campus and the mothers are out. I love how they tend to their daughters with protection and pride.

I'm including a picture of T and her mother taken at T's wedding last weekend. Their embrace and expressions say it all. It was a wonderful day.

S

The Look

Like it or not, mothers have a major influence on their daughters. You know that look a mother gives her daughter when she doesn't like her daughter's haircut or outfit choice? That look has the power to boil my blood AND incite an outfit change ASAP.

Recently, my mother made a point of telling me about a new book. It was another organic smorganic book that she had no doubt heard about on NPR. I'm sure she said a lot of interesting things about the book, but this is what I heard:
*You should stop drinking your Diet Cokes.
*Processed foods are bad for you and I know you eat them all the time.
*That blemish on your chin wouldn't be there if you were more careful with your diet.

In reality, she said none of those things - directly. But just like the, "I don't like the way you are wearing your hair" look, I heard between the lines.

The crazy thing is I love NPR. I appreciate organic products. But when she pushed them my way I fiercely guarded my Diet Cokes and refined pasta.

So imagine my shock when I found myself driving to the book store today and asking if they had the book in stock. Yeah, I caved. Meet the new book. It does sound pretty interesting. Gah.
S

Praying for M

M's baby hasn't come. The village midwife thinks it should have been here by now. M is worried. The midwife is worried. I am worried and so far away. And it's not that I am an OBGyn or have some unique ability to make things better, but I wish that i was there. I would ask to put her in a car and drive her to the nearest clinic with equipment that could monitor her progress. And so we wait.

M is the secretary of the Ushirika Wa Wanawake Kidete. She took some sewing classes a few years ago. This summer she helped me teach the women to hold scissors. Oh God, we need for M. to be ok. We need her baby to be ok. Please pray with me for M.
S

ps If you have the initials MF on a kitenge you purchased, M made it.

No

The book of Esther is one of my favorites. Lately I've been studying Queen Vashti and all of her amazingness. We don't get to spend too much time with her, but the chapter she is with us makes a big impression. Vashti was a woman who knew what it meant to set a boundary and live with the consequences of doing so.

I need more Vashtis in my life . . . people who show me, by example, what it means to exemplify charm, grit, and manners. Yesterday I wrote her a letter. My plan was to blog it, but I find myself fearful of what someone might think. It's ironic, I know.
Here's a paragraph.

I wish the Old Testament shared more of your story. No matter how often I tell myself that boundaries are good and that pleasing isn’t always, I still find it hard when faced with dissent. And it’s more than that – it’s feeling like I am jeopardizing my job (present and future). It is feeling like I am not being a team player. I want to play on a team that honors who I am as a woman, not because of my body, but because of my contributions as a minister, friend, teacher, student. I want to walk into a room and feel like I changed something for the better, not the worse. I want to stand behind a pulpit in a sweater set. I want to have faith in my denomination.

That is all for now. Read her story in the first chapter of Esther. I love that she said, "No."
S

*photo courtesy of Grebo Guru