Today is definitely one to mark into the Hess-Maguire Annals, were there such a thing. A wave I rode in my own vocational life converged in beautiful resonance and alignment with a wave my beloved Brian rode in his own preaching when he decided to give 1 Corinthians 14 “the Nelson Touch.”
The wave I rode was speaking to the seminary’s Board of Trustees as the conscious feminine theologian I am, in an ecclesial and academic institution (un)consciously hostile to the F/feminine. The roughly two weeks had all the pain and spiritual bloodiness of birthing, for which my woman’s body–and its lingering cough and bone-tired weariness–can attest. I must love this community, otherwise why bother? Riding the waves I’m given, I’ll say for now.
The other wave I observed was this morning as Brian preached, so grounded in his own gifting and proclaiming words for circle-way and feminine leadership contributions I could not have said better myself. From 1 Corinthians 14, no less! [For those unfamiliar with that reference, verses 34-35 are the ones you will already know regardless of whether you’re traditionally affiliated or not at all–women must remain silent, subservient to their husbands, blah blah blah (see addendum below). The livestream is worth listening to, if/when you have 20 minutes for soul-food: September 29th; sermon begins at 30:05 or so.] A friend leaned over with tears in her eyes, whispering, “This is your voice,” which was sweet. And I got to whisper back, “Yes, but also no. It’s fully his voice, he just gets it from the inside now.” And now I’d add: “He’s made it ours this morning, here.”
So it was an unusual event for me to listen to this text, preached by the man I love, offering his clear exegetical gifts toward a lifegiving ‘holding’ of an utterly damning text, seared into the flesh of all that I value in my consciously-chosen, necessarily woman-centric bodysoul, mind, heart. I am a woman, after all. A remarkable day for me to be so very blessed…together…one-flesh-ed.
The Nelson Touch,” you might ask? Brian said to me this morning: “I find Lord Nelson’s approach much more satisfying to such texts.” The implication was “just take ‘em head-on.” When I researched it a bit more, one essay said, “Crush them, don’t cripple them.” But even more interesting was the description of the strategy. Nelson created a multiple-strand onslaught by explicitly trusting his junior officers in all units. It’s not quite circle-way yet, but the trust your community seeds are there! I laughed aloud, as did he when I informed of my research. “I’ve never heard you offer me a lecture on Lord Nelson’s naval strategies before!” We both can still surprise one another, which is a good sign.
Seriously, though, I don’t honestly think I’ve ever heard anyone in my Presbyterian or mainline church settings actually preach on this text at all, let alone hear anything from it toward a life-giving offering. Evangelicals, Conservatives, those who are intent upon subordinating women so to protect the familiar order of their normative lives have preached on it of course. Often and loudly. Seedbed of rage for so long.
Yet this morning, after a most demanding offering by this conscious feminine theologian in her setting more inclined to resist than listen & consider, I received consolation upon consolation.
Almost like Brian and I said to one another: This is the Way.
Blessed be…and off to Boston we go.
Note:
34 “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
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