Friendship of Women

UMW communion 2015 reflection

You probably know the story (Eliz barrenness, Mary annunciation, then the visit together)

Two women, both unexpectedly pregnant, both angelically announced, both aware of the Spirit of God literally moving within them.  Both knew just how God comes in unorthodox places and through unexpected people.  And not only did they know it in their heads—even we can do that—they carried it with their lives.

There are some elements to their relationship that are worth considering in our own relationships with other women….

Mary says yes to God and immediately goes to talk to Elizabeth, and not just next door either…I imagine this single mother to be didn’t just go out of the joy of being pregnant!  There must have been anxiety, fear, wonder….all worth sharing with someone she trusts

When Elizabeth sees her, her whole body reacts.   Now our bodies today are bombarded by media images that most of us don’t fit, pregnant or not.  We learn early to critique our bodies negatively so we might learn something from Elizabeth about listening to our bodies….she takes her bodily response as an expression of joy.

she is filled with the Spirit of God, and she exclaims a blessing on this young woman….blessed are you among women.   Betcha Mary was relieved to hear that, as she probably wasn’t’feeling too sure about all this…..But then Elizabeth also says, Blessed is she who believes what God has promised. Not blessed are you for believing…..  I suspect she sees herself and Mary both as blessed by their trust in the God who keeps promises…..another wonderful character of friendship.

A prophet, John, and a savior Jesus, were human, born of women of trust, friends with each other, friends with God, women who carried God’s love into the world.  

Mary and Eliz aren’t here anymore but we are: women, friends, women who are friends, women who need friends, women who know people who need friends.

You received a heart as you came in tonight: I want you to think of a woman who has been an Elizabeth to your Mary, or a Mary to your Elizabeth, or  maybe a friend, maybe someone who needs a friend—someone whose name you could write on this heart, who is inscribed on your heart…..then when you leave, tuck it in your purse, and in the pocket of your heart, as a reminder of the Love God gives that make that love possible.

And here we are, human, women who seek to trust the living God, women of friendship, women who are now called to carry God’s love into the world.

Here we are, united in our common desire for the peace of God in our mixed up, uncertain lives. Tonight we have the opportunity, the quiet, the time, to be women who, in the words of Joan Chittister, were opening up to the impulse of God who, daily, leads us beyond ourselves….. less obsessed by the limitations of being human,  more in awe of its potential. It is humanity that is the womb of the divine in us.  Wow.

 May we too trust in our humanity as the womb of the divine, cherish the friendship of women, and the friendship of God, so we can carry some of that love and peace within us, and give birth to the work of God’s spirit in this hurting world.