I hope you find this next section from Mount Shoop (Dispositions of Adventure: Embodying Ambiguity) to be interesting - maternal images of church.
Maternal bodies, multiple mothers, and fragmented subjectivity are embodied metaphors for dispositions of adventure. Triviality and isolation are what we need to avoid, not ambiguity and indeterminacy. There is no way to tidy up the ambiguity of motherhood: and all of us live in that same embodied truth. Human embodied life is like that. We are deeply marked by our experiences. My body's capacity to function well is an idiosyncratic expression of relationships, experiences, feelings resistance, surrender, and embrace. Your body's capacity is the same. The church as Body of Christ is no different. The zest and connection of embodied mothering are like the rich texture of holy mystery, spiritual awakening, sacred attunement, and tenacious hope. It is so easy to stay in the world of the trivial and never take on the adventure that dips us down into the depths of our world - personal and universal. And yet, to dig down deep or simply let ourselves become acquainted with that which is not as we are means that we will face those ambiguities that tend to frighten us or cause confusion. It is there that our lives are really expanded so that we can see just how wide and deep is the love of God that is at the very heart of our adventures in the church. As we risk to step our of our isolated worlds, we begin the journey of life that is intended for our humanity in the image of God. I am always interested in hearing how people have been pulled out of one way of seeing or hearing or living simply by letting themselves be exposed to what they do not know or cannot control. For in that place, we are invited to listen and share a bit of life that is common to all of us. Connection: Just think about how many times you have heard someone move from a position in which they look at "them" with suspicious if not fearful eyes. Then, in many and various ways, they come to find out that the ones who seen as them - the ones that could be side-stepped - are really very much like 'us.' I love to see that freedom in the faces of those who are being transformed - born again. When you draw us into the faithful adventure of life, O God, we do not know the path or the end or the manner in which we will move along the way. And yet, we ask that you continue to call us, draw us,pull us beyond ourselves and into your blessed Reign. Amen. |
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