Dear Beloveds,
This is but the beginning of the birth pangs … Mark 13:8
There are a lot of stories about women and pregnancy and motherhood in the Bible. To list some of these women off the top of my head, and in no particular order: Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Eve, Hagar, Rebekah, Jochebed, Rachel, Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth, and all those unnamed women - Manoah’s wife, the Shunammite woman, the widow of Zarephath, and more, I’m sure.
I think that there is a tendency to over-spiritualize these women’s stories – or, honestly, to just pass over them because we know the outcome of their pregnancies (and so often we memorize their sons’ stories instead of theirs). We know Hannah had Samuel the prophet … but we might forget she fiercely prayed and wrestled with God for a child. We know that Jochebed had Moses … but we might forget how she gave him away (actually placed him in a basket and sailed him down a river) to save him and then pretended to be someone else in order to raise him. We know that Bathsheba had Solomon … but we might forget the messiness and horror that came before his birth – how she became pregnant with her first son and how he died early in life and later how she maneuvered to get Solomon on the throne.
And then there are the two pregnancies in Advent:
- Old menopausal wrinkled-up Elizabeth who is surprisingly with child. Elizabeth who gets both startled and assured when her baby kicks for the first time as she greets expectant Mary on her doorstep.
- Young Mary who is so often depicted in art and literature and even theology as being passive and demure. As being above such things as having spinach between her teeth or toilet paper stuck to her shoe or anything that goes along with being human. We don’t hear of her having cravings or swollen ankles or heartburn or a growing belly. But, surely, she did. How could she not as she carried our Savior within her?
Advent is sometimes depicted as a waiting time. As a time when we are anticipating something coming towards us. We often say that “Christmas is coming” or “Christ will come again.”
But isn’t Advent also a movement time. A time that changes and expands, stretches and swells. A time when there is kicking and motion. A time that is exciting but also terrifying. A time that is anticipatory but also unknown. A time when something is growing inside but cannot be seen … yet.
As I write this, the 2024 election happened a week ago. For half of the country, the outcome was devastating. For the other half, it was welcomed. Personally, I am trying to understand what this means for so many. Truly, I am concerned and broken-hearted when I think of the campaign promises that were made and the potential actions to so many vulnerable communities. The possible scenarios can make you stop and weep and fall on your knees exhausted.
But here’s the thing: Regardless of the outcome of the election, we are an Advent people. Like Hannah, we pray to God. Like Jochebed, we act to save those whose very lives are at risk. Like Bathsheba, we name and work for the well-being of those we love. Like Elizabeth, we clasp our bellies and feel the Spirit moving within us. Like Mary, we lift our heads high and we cry out against injustice and tyranny and we lift up those who are marginalized, hated, and oppressed.
In this Advent / Pregnant / Gestation time, as we wait and act, grow and stretch, move and expect, as we deeply yearn for this new life that is coming, may these women’s stories fill us with fortitude and courage, and may Jesus – the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God With Us – bring the promises of hope, peace, joy, and love to completion in this beautiful and broken world. May these birth pangs bring a new world into being.
+Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee
-
Location