Stories

The angel of the Lord…said, “…slave-girl…where have you come from and where are you going?”

Genesis 16:7- 8 NIV

I started this posting in early March, but with the death of my sister after a long illness, it was not completed and posted. Since then many issues have surfaced in the media, warranting a theological response. I have appreciated the willingness of the United Church of Christ to publicise their perspective and action on the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and their constructive comments on the Obama-Wright controversy. I have gained a greater understanding of these issues, through reading on-line sermons, speeches and commentaries, and more readily appreciate the visibility of the church in all areas of our lives. Yet a significant part of me remains frustrated and it relates back to what I originally wanted to say in last week’s unfinished posting. So I shall continue.

It’s not often that I find myself in a formal teaching situation. However, for the second year running, I was invited to deliver two lectures at an ecumenical theological college in the Midlands. Within the module on Bible and Interpretation, the first lecture concerned liberationist approaches – Womanist readings and the second, an interpretation of a biblical text using the approach in relation to the mission and ministry of the church. The students were post graduates on the Masters degree course; many pursuing ordination in the traditional denominations. I reviewed the course outline and consulted my lecture notes for the previous year. I also noted that the core texts on the reading list were again, primarily authored in the U.S.A. This was consistent with the original definition of womanism that arose from the experience of African American women. Quoting from Africana; the Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience;

The term ‘womanism’ was coined by the African American writer Alice Walker in her 1983 book In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Walker defined a womanist as a black feminist who continues the legacy of “outrageous, audacious, courageous, and willful, responsible, in charge, serious” African American women – women who are agents for social change for the wholeness and liberation of black people, and by extension, the rest of humanity. A womanist can be a lesbian, a heterosexual, or a bisexual woman. She celebrates and affirms African American women’s culture and beauty. She loves herself.

During the lecture I was very conscious of the importance of being inclusive; of relating the relevance of womanism to women of European and other descents, and to the men present. As a vehicle of liberation it needed to be seen as such, by encompassing everyone; a tool useable by anyone with understanding, to interpret scripture. I was also mindful that her alleged secular term had been co-opted by theologians who have provided a Christian twist in preference to her overriding belief in the benevolence of “Spirit” – a more interfaith and inclusive notion of the Divine.

Whilst I highlighted a significant number of U.K. based womanist theologians, my frustration simmered beneath the surface. I was disappointed by what I saw as an under celebration and under affirmation of our culture and beauty. I wanted to read tales of our history, struggles and achievements, here in the UK. Whilst I can identify with some of the African American stories, I have only truly lived the English Jamaican experience. To see our stories underpinning a black feminism that encourages rootedness in this country; in my community, has to be an important part of our journey.

God may have asked Hagar – Where have you come from and where are you going? And Marley added - If you don’t know your past, you don’t know your future. So for some of us, it may not be enough just to know who we are in Christ. Perhaps our faith needs to assist in that cultural and theological rootedness that connects us with our history, our traditions and our aspirations; a church that affirms our journeys to these points in our lives and our future routes.

I am sending [Onesimus] back to you in his own person and it is like sending my very heart…Not as a slave any longer but as something more than a slave, as a brother Christian, especially dear to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh as a servant and in the Lord as a fellow believer. If then you consider me a partner and a comrade in fellowship, welcome and receive him as you would welcome and receive me. Philemon 1:12, 16-17 (Amplified)

May the Holy Spirit of God be a constant companion as you travel along your way.

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