1
" You dreamed like all mothers do.
Until he began to speak aloud,
Your boy,
calling for justice in the market place,
Demanding integrity and fair play
in the courts and halls of business.
Declaring the Realm of God
Imminent,
Manifest . . .
Jesus leapt into the swelling crowds
like an axe into wood,
Uncompromising and unrelenting
in his passionate call
for peace and justice.
Jesus, your boy,
causing havoc in public,
critiquing and condemning
the status quo,
breaking rule after rule . . .
And with every speech,
with every act of defiance,
with every call to liberation,
with every amazing deed,
Your dreams of peace and liberation,
Your dreams of a secure old age,
Your dreams of grandchildren—
Evaporated. "
― , Soul Sisters: Women in Scripture Speak to Women Today
2
" Will you be to us,
so self-assured of healthy body,
a person to be spurned and rejected,
doubly disabled
by our prejudice and fears?
For we rarely open our hearts
to people like you, sister.
Nor have we crafted our world
to accommodate your bent form.
So you must creep around our perimeters,
seeking access,
a way into our spaces.
You must double-check
entrances, exits, stairs and heights
to see if they welcome you
or leave you standing helpless,
like an infant
before a rising cliff.
Will we slip past you,
embarrassed?
Or will we see in you
a graced opportunity
to stretch our own crippled spirits,
recognizing
your inherent dignity,
and respecting the courage
of your endless silent struggle
to be part of a world
not fashioned for your infirmity? "
― , Soul Sisters: Women in Scripture Speak to Women Today
4
" And so you carried
life for the world, Mary,
as you fled,
to protect that very life
from threats of death.
Joining the world's mass of displaced people
you became
Refugee,
Alien,
Immigrant,
Homeless,
and settled in a foreign land--
the only place
to safely nurture
your fragile dream.
Like so many other women
who flee violence,
clutching their babies,
you crossed the border defining you
a stranger,
dependent on foreign aid, welfare
and hand-outs--
the charity of others--
to feed the Son of God. "
― , Soul Sisters: Women in Scripture Speak to Women Today
5
" Your eyes tell your story, sister,
and I must listen—
locked in your honest gaze.
For you have captured me,
and your deep-welled goodness
softens and reminds me of,
my essential self—
before I sold my soul
to Security and Comfort
and Compromise.
I think I love you.
And I tremble
in that truth—
for I looked into your eyes
and I cannot, ever,
be the same.
You have given more,
Jesus said,
than all the rest…
You have given more
than I…
For I have never been
that poor,
I have never been
that rich. "
― , Soul Sisters: Women in Scripture Speak to Women Today
