WomenSpeak
Content Warning: The selected Bible verses contain references to sexual assault.
I was decades old
Before I realized
The presence
Of the absence
Of women’s narratives,
Women’s stories,
Women’s voices
In the Lectionary,
In regular, weekly Christian worship.
I was decades old
Before I really paid attention
To how few sermons
I had heard
Centered in Biblical women.
I was decades old
Before I realized
How few Biblical women’s stories
Provided the voices
For my own preaching.
And then I took a class
From the late
Rev. Dr. Susan Hedahl
At the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.
And we read the Biblical women –
Their narratives,
Their stories,
Their words.
All of them.
We heard
WomenSpeak.
We tried to hear them
On their own merit,
In their own time,
And in ours.
And I started to hear
Their words,
Their voices,
The sounds of their speech
And the intonations of their stories –
Rising from the graves
In which they are buried,
Speaking side-by-side,
Bouncing off of one another,
Sparking –
Like flint-striking-flint
In the dark.
I have been hearing them ever since,
Speaking to me,
Inviting me own story
To find its voice
Side-by-side
With theirs.
Alone.
Together.
In the un-mutable chorus
Of WomenSpeak.
This is what I hear.
This is the narrative
Into which
My own story
Is written.
A script for eight voices: a narrator, a counter-narrator or negativa, and six other readers.
Narrator: And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
1: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children.
2: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
6: Pray, let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
Narrator: And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
3: Upon me, be your curse, my son, only obey my word.
4: Help me, Rabbi… even the dogs get to eat the scraps that fall from the table.
Narrator: And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
1: After I have grown old and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?
Negativa: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Narrator: And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
5: No, my brother, do not force me; for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do anything so vile!
6: Pray, let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
Narrator: And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity
1: Cast out this slave woman with her son
Narrator: And there was a woman
6: Let me not look upon the death of my child
Narrator: And there was a woman
2: A poor widow who came and put in two copper coins which make a penny
3: As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
Negativa: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Narrator: And there was a woman
4: Help me Rabbi
3: I will go
5: No, brother
6: Let me not look
Narrator: And there was a woman
2: If only I touch his garment, I shall be made well.
1: Give me children or I shall die
4: Now then, swear to me
Narrator: And there was a woman
3: Will you give me a pledge?
Narrator: And there was a woman
2: Rabbi, don’t you care that my sister has left me all alone to do the household tasks? Tell her to help me!
1: Son, why have you done this to us?
6: Pray, let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
Narrator: And there was a woman
5: Your daughter-in-law who loves you is more to you than seven sons
3: I will sing to the Lord, for God has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider, God has thrown into the sea.
2: Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.
Negativa: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Narrator: And there was a woman
4: Help me Rabbi
3: I will go
5: No, brother
6: Let me not look
Narrator: And there was a woman
1: Who will roll away the stone for us from the door?
2: Turn aside my Lord. Turn aside to me. Have no fear.
3: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
4: I have seen the Lord.
Negativa: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Narrator: And there was a woman
5: No, brother
Negativa: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
Narrator: And there was a woman
4: Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you.
1: Give me children or I shall die
6: Pray, let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
Narrator: And there was a woman
3: How can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
2: Rabbi, don’t you care?
1: Son, why?
5: If only I touch
4: Cast out
3: Help me
6: Pray, let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
Narrator: And there was a woman
3: Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me when I am a foreigner?
5: Where the men went, I do not know.
4: Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God, and die.
Narrator: And there was a woman
2: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.
3: Will you?
Narrator: And there was a woman
1: Pray
2: Help me
3: Give me
4: Let me
5: No, brother
6: Why?
Narrator: And there was a woman.
