We do not liberate ourselves. No matter how deeply I pressed into liberation theories and practices these past few weeks, I reached the same conclusion. We cannot be our own agents of liberation. Liberation is the action taken up by an agent of change who often does not even realize their defiant disruption becomes the […]
Liberating Hagar
by on April 8, 2019 Leave a Comment
Hagar gets the short end of the stick. Sunday School lessons describe her position as a servant, waiting hand and foot on Abraham and Sarah in Canaan. When barrenness got the best of Sarah, she eyed Hagar who was ripe for the picking. So she sent the servant into Abraham’s tent. This is how Ishmael, […]
Real Freedom is Not a Spa Experience
by on April 2, 2019 Leave a Comment
I wanted the quail to stay trapped. I was ten or eleven, and the quail had a broken wing. It was caught in our yard, where a low brick wall hemmed in the desert plants decorating the front of our house. I found the bird there one day, huddled next to a barrel cactus, and when […]
God, Keep Liberating Us
by on April 1, 2019 Leave a Comment
lib·er·ate libəˌrāt/ (verb) set (someone) free from a situation, especially imprisonment or slavery, in which their liberty is severely restricted set free, free, release, let out, let go, set/let loose, save, rescue * * * When I turned 50 almost two years ago, something significant shifted in the deep places of my heart. I realized that […]
I Am Not A Godly Woman
by on March 13, 2019 Leave a Comment
I am not a godly woman. I wanted to be one for a long time. I was told for most of my life I should aspire to be one. Men apparently looked for them to date and marry. Preachers spoke longingly of them as the idealized, female archetype. In fact, the only type of woman […]
