I Know My Place [Kelly Green]

I am about as capable of changing another human being’s mind as I am capable of changing the direction of the wind. I just don’t have that fight in me anymore. Arguments have never helped me see Jesus. I’ve been wrestling with this as I’ve moved away from seeing life as a series of problems and solutions, as Dorothy Sayers discusses in her theologically rich book, The Mind of the Maker. As a woman, I am trying to take this to heart when it comes to issues of gender equality. My role is not to present problem and solution.

Being a woman in the church can leave one with her share of scars, but this is the human experience. We are all scarred in one way or another and made to be a part of each other’s healing as well, while God somehow works to restore all things. This is such a mystery to me, as I sometimes cannot find the faith to believe it’s really happening. I know someday God will make all things right, but can we really see glimpses of the not yet kingdom today, as we live within broken systems and relationships?

While I fully acknowledge my middle class American life of privilege, as a woman, I’ve also experienced life from the perspective of the Other. A different perspective is a gift. In those moments when my heart almost bursts for Jesus to set the whole world right because things seem so wrong, I pray that instead of bitterness, I am able to offer my voice as one fighting for those that are closest to the heart of God, confident in knowing who I am as a woman called by God.

These are the truths I cling to, living in the light of the resurrection:

I am a woman and I know my place.

It is among those who know what it means to be the other, understanding the feeling of being made to feel small, even if unintentionally.

I know where I belong, 
which is not in the weeds of the way things have always been 
because no matter how still I try to stand, they will still choke out what was meant to grow.

It is in listening and hearing with ears searching to understand instead of impose, 
allowing others opportunity to be heard.

It is sitting beside, walking with, standing for.

Creating space and setting a new table 
for those who have been neglected, ignored, abused or abandoned.
 A refuge for anyone who is spent and feel like they have nothing left to give, acknowledging the thin places between faith and doubt
where trusting One we cannot see can feel impossible
 but moving forward even still.

My place is in searching and sharing the Scriptures, part of a tapestry of diversity, knowing God’s love is extravagant, and seeks to swallow all.

I am a woman equipped for active involvement in the mission of God, allowing the Spirit to flow through me, not as a means of maintaining my own status 
but to bring glimpses of the reign of God in this world.

Here and now.

Recognizing we are creatures crafted with both logic and emotion
 and refusing to deny either.

I am a child of God called 
as a witness to what steals life and calling it out for what it is.
 Breaking silence.
Challenging language that belittles or dehumanizes
 and replacing it with that which brings life and heals shame.

Seeking Jesus, being pulled into the heart of my Father, and listening to the Spirit that leads and empowers as I was called:

To fight injustice and indifference
 while pursuing peace in strife
 in order to sow beauty in places it shouldn’t be found.

This is what I was created for.

Yes, I am a woman. 
And I know my place.

–

[Image by Charles Roffey, CC via Flickr]