I was planning on leaving the next section of this letter out - but hey, I may as well not avoid and do s bit of something. Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if soe of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct, when they see the purity an reverence of your lives. Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lastying beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, whick is very precious in God's sight. It was in this way long ago that the hholy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughter as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you I didn't even get to the part about husbands. AHHHHH! But for what is printed here, keep thinking ancient - and tribal - and another world. And yet, do not simply dismiss this passage. There is to be a consistent theme about 'authority' that has to do with order and 'fitting in' and yet - we tend to lose that here. For the literalists, this is meant to tell women how to dress and look and present themselves. Well, they would then be living accordng to another time. Shall we also say women need to follow the rules around menstrual cycles - you know, unclean? No. We must set aside the ancient ideas and rules and glean from this passage the wonderful piece about the character of ones inner self. This is a self that shine through as grace and love and justice and peace. That is what 'dresses up' a woman of character within the followers of Jesus. In reading some comment by a amuslim female writer, she noted how the traditional variety of head scarfs among Muslims is a pre-Islamic notion. It takes people back to a tribalism that has nothing to do with the depth of the Muslim faith and she would even say the argument for modesty fails in that one can be 'modest' today in popular dress without having to cover the head or the face in any way. I find these comments to be ones that Christian literalist need to hear. Too often, we box ourselves in by what is not essential. We make much over that which is not vital to the display of our transformed lives. Connection: I really like the image of letting our inner selves shine. No matter what we wear or how we speak or who we are in society, it is the shining of the love of God that demonstrates a new way of life. When we can get by all the 'garnishments' that lock us up unnecessarily our witness to the peaceable Reign of God may become more and more powerful In the middle of what is so common, O God, we come as you common, everyday people whose hearts have been grasped by your love. Encourage us again to let that love be the shape of our presence in the world. Amen. |
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