Hagar: Precious in God’s Sight

Read Hagar’s story: Genesis 16 and 21:9-20 Hagar comes up in this Sunday's lectionary, and her story could not be more timely, especially as our faith communities consider the sins of racism and oppression. She was many things: a slave and nemesis to Sarah; the first person in the Bible to name God (she called him El-Roi, "O God of seeing;...

Read MoreRead More

Lydia: A woman of purple

Lydia’s story Lydia’s biblical story begins near water, where she has gone to pray. A merchant with a flourishing business in purple cloth, she greets women friends on the riverbank outside the little town of Philippi. From there (now modern-day Greece), she keeps up with personal relationships and hears news from travelers near and far. She is peaceful yet attentive, good...

Read MoreRead More

Vashti, Esther and Dr. Ford

Hildegard of Bingen once said, "Secrets make us sick." For that reason, I'm glad that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is speaking publicly. No longer will she hold in what she remembers as a terrifying incident. This Sunday, Esther's story will be read aloud in churches across the country (Track #1 in the lectionary). It is an important story, and Esther ranks...

Read MoreRead More

Mary Magdalene: Peering into the darkness

Peering into the darkness. Talking about it. It’s what women do. And at this time in history, when women are looking squarely into the darkness of sexual misconduct, rape, and gun violence, we in the religious life delve deep into the story of women who peered into the darkness, found their souls transformed, and changed history. Mary, the mother of Jesus, saw...

Read MoreRead More

Mary: I Walk With My Son

Jesus’ mother, Mary, is venerated by millions around the world, and will be particularly remembered next Tuesday, August 15th, on her feast day. Honestly, it took me years to relate to her, for she always seemed so untouchable, too far up on a silver platform for me to reach. Of course I knew her story; who doesn’t? But she remained emotionally...

Read MoreRead More

Women of Holy Week: Martha of Bethany

Bottom line:  One thing, Martha. One thing. We’ve all got a lot on our minds this week. For clergy, a zillion services. For travelers, fatigue and worry about making it home. For those hosting Easter dinners: house cleaning, cooking, and trying to keep family from killing each other over politics.  And into this week of frenzy come the women of Holy Week and Easter....

Read MoreRead More