Many women in the Bible suffer, caught in the midst of unimaginably harsh choices and pain. Think of the woman in Judges 19, whom we'll look at today. Most Christians do not know her story, and are surprised to find it in scripture. We’ve swept the pieces of it—and her—under the collective Judeo-Christian rug for 3000 years now. And she's not the...
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Let’s be real. Everyone knows the story of Abraham, but how about the comparable story of the widow of Zarephath? Both were about sacrifice and beloved sons. Abraham delivered his son Isaac to the funeral pyre—and would have killed the boy, had not God’s angel intervened. The widow of Zarephath also saw her son on death’s doorstop, although—unlike Abraham—such a condition...
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She had freckles on her face. She kept standing up to tug her short-shorts down; they pinched her, she said. She told me her name was “Josi,” without an “e.” And that she was eleven, in middle school, and that her school was “really safe — “that nothing ever happens there.” Her long legs would make her a good tree-climber. I hope she...
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Where do mothers find the strength to let their children go? One of the more dynamic women in scripture shows up this Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary: Hannah. Known for her great bargain with God, her story is full of emotion, pathos, and yearning. She also leaves us with a range of questions similar to ones faced by women in...
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Sensual. Tender. Loving. Discerning. Clearly Mary of Bethany was Jesus' soulmate. How else might we describe a woman who sits at Jesus’ feet, listens carefully to his every word, pours expensive oil over said feet, then dries them with her hair? Jesus has no better friend; no better listener; no better soul partner. The setting: Martha’s small home in Bethany. A scant two...
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There was a hidden woman in last Sunday’s readings, one who dances through three of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark and John), and one who challenges us to link the dots to connect her story. She’s behind the scenes, probably at home, as the familiar "I will teach you how to fish for people" story opens in Mark: “Jesus saw James the son...
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2 Epiphany, Year B, the Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman, January 19, 2015 “Lead Gently, Lord, and Slow” Our lessons today are all about God finding us and being found by him. And two people in today’s lessons, Samuel and Nathaniel, help us see how that happens. First, Samuel. This is the boy who will grow up to be the last judge in Israel;...
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Just heard yesterday that Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter has won a gold medal from Illumination Book Awards in the category of Bible Study. We're excited about this, and have lots of people to thank, especially those from Forward Movement, the Episcopal Church Women, and the research team. And those Bible women! It would seem they...
Read MoreRead MoreSamson’s mother’s story (Judges 13) Why is Samson’s mother the mystery woman of Advent? Because, like Elizabeth and Mary, she was the mother of a son whose birth was announced by God. Both she and Elizabeth were mothers of “nazarites:” men set apart by God before birth as holy men. Heroes both, John the Baptist and Samson set the stage for...
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