The case for woman and the earth

A letter to the conservative, white, evangelical churches of America, 

Growing up, I only heard the Bible taught from a stage by men. The teaching would go as follows- a passage- read, given historical context, and then translated for the group. The takeaways and lessons were always clear. Typically three to five bullet points- distilled for us, the layman, by the man on stage. For the translating and interpreting of this text which has occurred for centuries, it seems the narrative has been held squarely in the fist of men with power.

My family lives on a 10 acre plot south of the Nashville, TN. Our house is tucked daintily into a hillside, with evergreens sheltering the rear and a formidable sweet gum out front. In the morning, you hear birds before traffic, and deer graze lazily in the front pasture.

I’m the youngest of three daughters and have always been rather imaginative and sometimes melancholy. As a child, I would often retreat to the woods alone and lay on the bosom of the soft earth. The trees would nurture me there. Divine presence would fall on me. A nearness and comfort that felt intimate and safe. Like home. 

This feminine divine that found me in the trees would often not find me from the pulpit. The pulpit words were choppy, directive, logical and practical- steeped in dualism- right and wrong. Winners and losers. The logic of empire. 

As empire, power, and accumulation have become the compass by which society is steered, so has the earth suffered. The tree viewed as separate from the soil it anchors and the air it cleans- the tree is an item to be evaluated for its worth. Consumed and used. Stuff. 

Animals have suffered as well. Cows are now beef and chickens are poultry. Animals are no longer sacrificed in reverence, but killed cruelly for glutinous want. Animals must die for out breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Because they taste good. 

The narrative is that we are to serve God, but the earth serves us. For God is not the earth. But is God not the earth? 

In the exclusion of language, tribe, race, and woman from the teaching of God’s word, so has reverence for earth been lost in the narrative. 

Jesus goes to the wilderness to pray, to commune with our Lord, again and again. To gaze at the first incarnation- logos became plants, logos became soil before logos became flesh. From this grounding in the generosity and wisdom of the earth, our divine mother, Jesus would condemn the pursuit of wealth and power. With vigor. 16 of his 38 parables. I find this emphasis is lost when the scripture is taught in wealthy communities. 

In the wreckage that awaits our poisoned planet, we keep on keeping on with men teaching the word of men to men who don’t want to hear anything else. The word which re-enforces a relationship to the earth steeped in hierarchy. Man above woman. Human above animal. Money above river above forest above ocean. Each lower rung enslaved to serve those above. Any expectation of care, mutual respect, and reciprocity is sacrificed in the name of order and responsibility.

How can we understand the heart of God if we silence the women whom she teaches? How can we say we love God and remain passive as her earth dies at the hands of perpetual accumulation? How can this possibly be the stance of the people of God? 

Metanoia, the greek word for repent, can more accurately be translated to change. I implore you, church. Change your consciousness. Change your mind.