Thursday, September 21, 2006
Does anyone know who wrote Top Ten Reasons Men Should Not Be Ordained? I've seen it several places, but don't know how to cite it. It's going on a transparency as an opener for my women's spirituality class - an evening on women's leadership. We'll read Jen Lemen's article on women in emergent, and some other stuff from CBE. The Top Ten list is brilliant. It's funny, but as professors are wont to do, we'll ask, "Why is it funny?" and analyze it entirely without humor. The reasons why it's funny reveal the faulty logic behind denying women the right/responsibility to exercise leadership.
Why don't I blog? Because all I do is work, be at home, and sleep. When I'm at work, I think about home. When I'm home, I think about work. When I sleep, I sleep (fortunately!). It's interesting to me, but not very bloggable.
Why don't I blog? Because all I do is work, be at home, and sleep. When I'm at work, I think about home. When I'm home, I think about work. When I sleep, I sleep (fortunately!). It's interesting to me, but not very bloggable.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Sometimes Things Come Together
In Things Fall Apart (TFA), one of Okonkwo's wives has birthed ten children, and only one has lived. Ezinma has been labeled a probable obanje - a spirit who comes into a baby, then leaves, and then comes again, over and over to the same mother. Ezinma is now ten, and a priestess says to Ekwefi, the mother, "Perhaps she has come to stay...They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six." The priestess, and others in the village, perform a ceremony that helps placate the obanje.
We're discussing TFA in my Race, Ethnicity and Peacemaking class, with a focus on how contemporary racial ideologies emerged in the colonial period. When I said, "any questions or comments?", however, a young man said, "You know that part about the obanje? Children dying because they're evil spirits...that's pretty weird."
My monologue ensued: Belief in obanje actually helped Ezinma survive. She has more eyes and hands caring for her, watching her health and growth, than any other child in the village. This belief actually assists the survival of a child whose parents have already suffered greatly. Additionally, it offers an explanation for repeated child death. Do we have a better explanation for why parents should suffer the death of 9 of their 10 children? Christians in our culture might say they're being punished, or God really loved their children and wanted to see them, or God is in control, or it's part of their discipleship, or it's not that bad because they'll see their children in heaven. I think that's pretty weird. Obanje, or the belief among some very poor Brazilians that their dying infants are in fact not human, or tangentially biblical Christian beliefs -- all are attempts to explain the unexplainable, to make meaning from tragedy, and to help bereaved parents maintain their sometimes tenuous ties to the human community.
Only one young man in the class -- he who used to have an "ie" at the end of his name when I was his babysitter -- knows the story behind my monologue. His mom, his sister, and he were sad for me and were very kind. I also grieved for them when his father died far too young. I couldn't make eye contact with him today in class, but I will soon.
In Things Fall Apart (TFA), one of Okonkwo's wives has birthed ten children, and only one has lived. Ezinma has been labeled a probable obanje - a spirit who comes into a baby, then leaves, and then comes again, over and over to the same mother. Ezinma is now ten, and a priestess says to Ekwefi, the mother, "Perhaps she has come to stay...They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six." The priestess, and others in the village, perform a ceremony that helps placate the obanje.
We're discussing TFA in my Race, Ethnicity and Peacemaking class, with a focus on how contemporary racial ideologies emerged in the colonial period. When I said, "any questions or comments?", however, a young man said, "You know that part about the obanje? Children dying because they're evil spirits...that's pretty weird."
My monologue ensued: Belief in obanje actually helped Ezinma survive. She has more eyes and hands caring for her, watching her health and growth, than any other child in the village. This belief actually assists the survival of a child whose parents have already suffered greatly. Additionally, it offers an explanation for repeated child death. Do we have a better explanation for why parents should suffer the death of 9 of their 10 children? Christians in our culture might say they're being punished, or God really loved their children and wanted to see them, or God is in control, or it's part of their discipleship, or it's not that bad because they'll see their children in heaven. I think that's pretty weird. Obanje, or the belief among some very poor Brazilians that their dying infants are in fact not human, or tangentially biblical Christian beliefs -- all are attempts to explain the unexplainable, to make meaning from tragedy, and to help bereaved parents maintain their sometimes tenuous ties to the human community.
Only one young man in the class -- he who used to have an "ie" at the end of his name when I was his babysitter -- knows the story behind my monologue. His mom, his sister, and he were sad for me and were very kind. I also grieved for them when his father died far too young. I couldn't make eye contact with him today in class, but I will soon.
2 Comments:
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There is no way to find definitive meaning in the loss of our babies. We all have to reach for what we can find. To tell you the truth, it was the loss of Matthew which helped mature my faith enough to allow me to embrace the mystery and be okay with not always having an answer for everything.
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Good to hear your voice again. I missed you. I really hope you have a fantastic year!
2 Comments:
Further down the comments one person said: "You'll be interested to know that this version of the list of top ten reasons was originated by Dr David M Scholer of Fuller Seminary, who teaches one of the most popular courses there on 'Women, Ministry and the Bible'. For more, see the Feminarian at http://feminary.blogspot.com/" I didn't check it out, but I hope it sets you on the right path!
By
Tonya, at 2:11 AM
hey there - miss your regular blogging, but glad to hear that you are enjoying being back in the thick of work....looking forward to reading check ups when you can.
By
juniper68, at 12:06 AM
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