Something to chew on

It snowed yesterday.  All of the ugly remnants of our past snowfall are covered over.  Everything is pristine again and glistening in the brilliant sunlight streaming through the trees.  It is absolutely lovely and reminds me of the importance of new beginnings.

I am still plugging away at Richard Rohr’s Jesus’ Alternative Plan.  For anyone serious about learning more about Biblical criticism and the Sermon on the Mount, this is a really good read, challenging in its concepts, but not in the writing itself.  I am also reading Elizabeth George’s Something to Hide, which deals with the practice of female genital mutilation, which is still being practiced in some African communities in England, perhaps even here in the US, as it is done in secret.  

joyce shutt

The two books make for an interesting juxtaposition as Rohr insists that Jesus’ ministry and resurrection are all about establishing a new world order that is opposite of power, prestige, and possessions.  George’s book illustrates how difficult it is for those in power to give up their dominant position and to make space for others to flourish, in this case, male patriarchy.  What is so disheartening for me is reading how the women are so complicit in the cutting of their young daughters and their belief that men are superior to women and ordained to be dominant.  But then that is also true in our culture, isn’t it?  We women have been complicit in propping up white male privilege.  Think of the ways our churches have stressed the so-called God-given right of men to rule over their wives.   Our Mennonite faith may have started as a protest to the abuses of the 16th-century Catholic church and part of that protest empowered their women to preach, teach, and be leaders, but once the persecutions stopped, male patriarchy returned and it’s only been in the last 50 years that women’s gifts are again being recognized.

In the three chapters that precede Rohr’s discussion of the Sermon on the Mount, he tries to prepare the reader to read Matthew with a new set of eyes. He insists that Jesus’ teachings, life, and resurrection can only be understood from the position of the oppressed and the poor.  Jesus did not come from the elite or even the middle class if such a thing existed in his time. He was born poor and remained poor in a culture dominated by Rome.

The problem facing our modern churches today is that the church has become comfortable with its status and position as a political influencer, its tax-free status, identifying with the rich and powerful.  It has become an institution, not a movement, a force for the status quo instead of standing against wealth and power.  No wonder people are being turned off!  What began as good news has been turned into bad news.  And of course, being confronted with the reality of Jesus’ teachings and example makes us uncomfortable, for we want to be comfortable, settled, safe, and secure. But, the reality is that nothing can change until we recognize that we have a problem.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.   

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Hilary Burrage
19 days ago

The USA is indeed a nation where FGM occurs, and has occurred, very significantly.
Please see Equality Now: https://equalitynow.org/fgm_in_the_us_learn_more/
‘In the US, approximately 513,000 women and girls have undergone or are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). Women and girls who were born in the US may be subjected to FGM here or even during vacations to their families’ countries of origin — a practice known as “vacation cutting.”’
l Now: mutilation in the United States

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