Overcoming Patriarchy: Tuesday's Reflection

I wish I had taken a photograph, but the picture in my mind will remain for a long time. One Sunday evening this month my husband and I attended an evening prayer service to commemorate Lutheran and Catholic unity at the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Paul. What made the event so memorable for me was seeing the Catholic Archbishop process up the aisle flanked by two female Lutheran bishops, Bishop Ann Svennungsen of the Minneapolis Area Synod, and Bishop Patricia Lull of the Saint Paul Area Synod. 

The teasing part of my mind imagined a conversation Bishop Bernard Hebda might have had with one of his advisors:

       "Seriously, both of the Lutheran bishops here in the Twin
       Cities are women? How is that possible?"

       "Not only is that true, but the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA
       (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) is a woman, too."

       "Well, at least the two Catholic universities in Minneapolis 
       and St Paul are headed by men, right?"

       "Not exactly. In fact, not at all. The president of St Thomas 
       University is a woman and so is the president of The 
       University of St Catherine.              

       "I guess that means I better be twice as good in this job." 

I did wonder what he was thinking as Bishop Lull stepped up into the Cathedral's pulpit to give the sermon that evening. I was so proud of her and of all the women in ministry, regardless of denomination or faith community. 


Later in the week I read the draft of a Social Statement on Women and Justice currently being considered in the ELCA. A long suffering task force has been working on this draft for almost ten years and hope it will be adopted at the 2019 Churchwide Assembly. My first thought as I started to read it was why has it taken so long to recognize the need for this document? My second thought was about its synchronicity as #ME TOO receives such wide attention. 

The draft begins with statements about our common foundation, including

        We believe that God the Holy Spirit is always at work,
        transforming and inspiring new ways of living in this 
        world toward God's promised, beloved, eternal community.

        ...we believe God's intention for humanity is abundant life
        for all.

I was especially moved and inspired by the words I have emphasized in bold: words certainly not just applicable to the Lutheran tradition or Christianity itself. 

Can you imagine anyone not wanting abundant life for all? 

Well, the same day I read the draft of this social statement I read an article in The Washington Post about a Republican candidate, Courtland Sykes, who hopes to unseat Sen. Clair McCaskill (D-MO). I invite you to read the entire article here. Here is a brief excerpt.  

        "I want to come home to a home cooked dinner at
        six every night, one that she fixes and one that I expect
        my daughters learn to fix after they become traditional
        homemakers and family wives...I don't want them to
        grow up into career obsessed banshees who {forgo}
        home life and children and the happiness of family to
        become nail-biting manophobic hell-bent feminist
        she devils."

This sounds like abundant life for Courtland Sykes, but negates women making their own choices, creating their own vision of an abundant life. 

Obviously, there are many factors that constitute an abundant life. And what is important to me, may not be important to you, but I suspect most of us can agree that not everyone has the opportunity to create that abundant life. Seeing women in leadership positions, whether in the church or any other area of life, is a sign of transformational and inspirational new ways of living, of moving towards abundant life for all. 

An Invitation
Where do you see signs of abundant life? What one thing can you do to stand in solidarity with the hope for abundant life for all? I would like to know.