Emerging Women

My husband and I, along with 5 other families, recently started a local chapter of Family-to-Family. Yesterday I received the following email from the founder of the organization:

This photo is from the on-line gallery of Phillip Toledano (thanks to fellow Scriber, Ben).

Sit with that photo for a minute. Allow your emotions to bubble up and give them names. Let them have their own stories just for a moment or so. See what those stories might be, if you don’t just shove the emotions down or wave them aside or tell them what to do.

Now, think for a moment about how intimidated you feel when standing in the presence of someone who is dressed “to the nines.” How intimidated you feel when you walk into a room or space and suddenly you realize … you are not dressed the same as everyone else there. You’ll never be able to dress like everyone else there.

Now you have the sense of modesty that Paul was trying to instill in Timothy when he wrote, “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” His concern was not for sexual purity, but that the women would set a tone of hospitality and welcoming.

Our clothes tell people something about us. They tell a story about who we are before people ever get to know us. When we use those clothes to engage in power and manipulation to subdue others in our presence … by whatever means, we are negating the power of the Gospel in the very space that the Gospel is to be transcendent.

So … how should we dress? Well … that’s up to you and your particular dance with the Holy Spirit. See, none of us is the same. The rules are all the same, yet they’re all different. All we can do is ask questions of each other … where do you live? How do your neighbors dress? What are the local standards? What is welcoming amongst them? How do you create a welcoming environment in your space, where you are free to proclaim the Good News to people so they will hear it from you?

My apologies to our non-US readers for the political post, but I thought this could be of interest to many of us here.

Over the weekend Hillary Clinton conceded the Democratic primary to Obama. I know that in the US this was a bitter battle and emotions run high when the “Hillary topic” arises. But whatever your politics or opinion of her, I thought her words on what it meant to be a woman running for President of the USA were significant.

Together, Sen. Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union. A woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I’d be the best president. But …

But I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter’s future and a mother who wants to leave all children brighter tomorrows.

To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and their mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay and equal respect.

Let us resolve and work toward achieving very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits, and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st century in our country.

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States. And that is truly remarkable, my friends.

To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.

Always aim high, work hard and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

As we gather here today in this historic, magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.

That has always been the history of progress in America. Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes.

Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot soldiers who segregation and Jim Crow.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote, and, because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together.

Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard-fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States. And so when that day arrives, and a woman takes the oath of office as our president, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream big and that her dreams can come true in America.

And all of you will know that, because of your passion and hard work, you helped pave the way for that day.

So I want to say to my supporters: When you hear people saying or think to yourself “if only” or “what if,” I say, please, don’t go there. Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

You can read her whole speech here. So what do you think? Will such things ever become “unremarkable”?

Week One

I have truly been enjoying this book about life in God opening up afresh. Nancy has a wonderful voice and it’s easy to connect with her and uncover insights with her in a way that’s inspiring, convicting and simple without being boxy or formulaic. And this from a woman who is from an evangelical orientation. It is rare that I feel connected with God without too many abrupt interruptions when I read books by evangelical writers, so this is high compliments for Nancy and the one who breathes in and through her work. I appreciated both Nancy’s references to life full with days parenting young children as well as her chapter devoted to work as a valuable avenue for loving God and living an abundant, dynamic life. On page 27 she argues biblically for why we ought to have sermons on men cooking, based on John 21 where Jesus cooks breakfast for the disciples. I like that view of godly manhood.

On page 14 Nancy says, “The power of gratitude is breathtaking and centering. It is along the lines of nuclear power.”

1. What inspires in you breathtaking gratitude?

Nancy talks about watching her grandmother make homemade jell-O and writes of the molds, “Molds are rigid, predetermined boundaries that create shape but leave no room for movement.” (29)

2. If molds didn’t exist, what shape would you be?

3. Without molds, what ways would you move freely as a lover of God?

Nancy discusses the issue of wanting to trade callings with someone else and how this is something that gets under Jesus’ skin when the disciples get into a dynamic of, “Well what a about him?” Nancy describes an experience of feeling jealous of a fellow speaker and how she handled that. (30-32)

On page 62, Nancy discusses the gift of ordinariness. She says of enjoying the ordinary,

it gives us a sense of purpose even in the mundane, a kind of freedom that releases us from the need to be important — a need that can weigh us down and sink us into our own pitiful selves. Ordinary gives a peace and joy and centeredness that turns us toward God and builds him deep inside of us.

6. What is your most cherished ordinary time?

7. What will you do today to celebrate WHAT IS in your life?