Sunday, January 25, 2009

R.R. Ruether: Moments of Silence

Rosemary Radford Ruether wrote and presented the liturgy today at Women-Church in Claremont.

It was her "Tripartite Apple" liturgy, a means of healing women from damage done by certain Scriptures.

After singing "Song of the Soul" (by Cris Williams), we read three harmful passages, each followed by a moment of silence for the women wounded by these words over the centuries.

Leviticus 12:1-8 -- A moment of silence for women wounded by these words.

Ephesians 5:21-24 -- A moment of silence for women wounded by these words.

I Timothy 2:11-15 -- A moment of silence for women wounded by these words.

The silence was deep and moving.

Then Rosemary led us to celebrate Eve as a seeker of wisdom with apple juice and slices of apple dipped in applesauce (that we may continue to be saucy), each person passing the elements to the next with the words, "Know that you are good."

Of course, we also shared our thoughts and concerns: one woman who had been at the inauguration, others asking for prayers and/or contributions to:
* the Panzi Hospital for raped and mutilated women in the Congo,
* the Middle East Children's Alliance bringing medicine to Gaza (see groundspring.org),
* Valerie Jared, senior aide to President Obama.

Theresa Yugar read Goodnight, Bush, a parody of the classic children's bedtime story. See goodnightbush.com.

We ended dancing in a circle and singing, "We Are Dancing Sarah's Circle."

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