This is not appropriate

40 essays in around 100 words #19

This one is exactly 100 words, which I'm kinda proud of myself for

Have you ever thought about how crazy it was that Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus while he taught at her house? I can just imagine the men and women whispering, “What does she think she’s doing?” “This is not appropriate.” “Women are not supposed to be disciples.” When her sister comes with the perfect reason to pull her out of this embarrassing situation, Jesus contradicts her, praising Mary for sitting there among the men where she doesn’t belong. Yet here we are thousands of years later still telling women where they should and should not sit.

By all means, be in the kitchen. But only if you want to be.

Imagining your way through scripture

I recently discovered spiritual director Irene Alexander. Her book on practicing the presence of Jesus introduced me to a new way to approach imaginative prayer using writing. When I’m by myself, just sitting and imagining is quite difficult, but writing is very engaging. Alexander advocates for writing the story out in the first person. This has helped me to really tap into the emotions that I’m connecting with the story and to internalize the story in my body. I’m thankful for this new way of experiencing Scripture as an alternative to studying it.

She's not a victim

Recently I read the story of Hagar with a group of Pakistani women. I (and lectio 365) read this story as an innocent girl caught up in unfortunate circumstances that have her running away from home, desperate and alone. My Pakistani friends pointed out to me that Hagar despised Sarai. To them, this seemed a common occurrence–a second wife gets pregnant and thinks she’s better than the first. She might even run away to try to garner more attention from the husband. They did not view her as a victim of her circumstances.