Story
Thousands of years ago, some men decided which books would
be put in the Christian Bible, and which books were kept out. This story comes from one of those books that
was not put in the Bible all those years ago—"The Acts of Paul and Thecla”. Let’s see if you can figure out why this book
didn’t make the cut. This is the story
of Thecla.
The story of Thecla begins with
Paul, a man who spread his understanding of Christianity across much of the
ancient world. Paul went to Iconium
after his escape from a jail in Antioch.
A certain young woman named Thecla heard him preaching in Iconium. She sat day and night listening to Paul talk
about God and about chastity—which in those days meant not getting
married. Thecla decided to follow Paul
and never to get married. So she went to
tell her finance, who was not happy about this, and her family, who was not
happy either.
Many of the men of Iconium were also very angry because
their wives and girlfriends were listening to Paul and thinking about whether
or not THEY ought to be married. The men
said, “We do not know who he is. But
he’s going to cause trouble in our marriages.”
Because he
told women not to get married or to leave their husbands, Paul was brought
before the governor. The governor ordered Paul to be tied up and taken off to
prison. Thecla gave her bracelets to the gatekeeper at the prison, so she would
be allowed to stay with Paul.
Paul was
beaten up and thrown out of the city.
Thelca was accused of being under Paul’s spell, and condemned to be
burned at the stake. Thecla was brought
into the arena. The wood was spread around her.
The fire was lit, but while the fire got hotter and hotter and higher
and higher, somehow the flames did not touch her. Soon a great storm cloud full of water and
hailstones fell on everyone and they ran away.
And the fire was put out.
Thecla escaped
and went searching for Paul. While she
was with Paul, Thecla made friends with Queen Tryphaena. Queen Tryphanea’s son,
Alexander, asked Thecla to be his girlfriend, but Thecla said “NO WAY—LEAVE ME
ALONE!” Alexander wanted to throw her into a pit of wild beasts and Queen
Tryphaena tried to save her, but Thecla got thrown in the pit anyway. The Queen
passed out when Thecla was tossed in the pit.
The first animal that was put into the pit with Thecla was a fierce
lioness. The lioness came up to Thecla,
laid down next to her and licked her feet. When the other wild animals—bears
and lions—were put in the pit the lioness protected Thecla from any harm.
When even more wild animals were tossed into the pit, Thecla
jumped into a pool of man-eating seals to escape them, baptizing herself in the
name of God as she jumped into the water.
A bolt of lighting killed the seals and a cloud of fire surrounded
Thecla, so the beasts STILL could not attack her.
Thecla’s arms and legs were tied to
four bulls which were poked with burning hot branding irons, but they did not
move. Thecla was spared.
Thecla went on to preach about god
and teach women that they didn’t need to get married, that they could care for
themselves. Many women followed her and
spread her teachings. The rest of her
life was devoted to this mission and to carrying for the sick. When Thecla was 90 years old, some men came
to kill her. Before they could kill her,
she leaned back into the walls of her cave and was consumed into the rock.
Sermon
So often we, all of us, are
oblivious to how our culture influences us to suppresses, minimize, and
disregard women’s contributions to spirituality and religion. I know I have been blind. I preached a sermon many years ago in Austin,
Texas, at Wildflower Unitarian Universalist church on Father’s Day and only
discussed the relationship between fathers and sons. I was approached by a woman afterward who was
quite upset that I did not even mention the relationship between fathers and
daughters. 25 years ago that was
something that flew under my radar. I
said to myself, well I am not going to let that fly under my radar again. Not anymore.
Then a few years ago, I taught
Unitarian Universalist history at the Unitarian Universalist Midwest Leadership
School, and—as it was sharply pointed out to me after my presentation—when I
talked about the early history of our faith, from 50 ACE to the 19th century, I
only told the history of all the old white guys of our religious tradition.
OOPS! I hadn’t even brought up the women
of early Christianity and of the 18th century—heck it was a woman who converted
John Murray, the father of Universalism in America to Universalism. And I didn’t mention the Unitarian and
Universalist women of the 19th century—the transcendentalist Margaret Fuller,
Universalist Reverend Olympia Brown, the first woman minister in America, and the
Prophetic Sisterhood of woman ministers who filled Unitarian and Universalist
pulpits during the Civil War, and so many others. I realized I was still functioning
inattentively under a patriarchal overculture accepting the prevailing idea
that Unitarian Universalism was founded by a bunch of white guys. And when you think about it, if old white
guys are writing the history, guess who that history is going to feature in the
lead roles? People of color? Women?
People who didn’t conform to expected gender identities or roles? Nope.
These old history books feature old white guys and everyone else, if
women or people of other gender identities or rolls or people of color appear
at all, appear in subordinate roles. At
that Midwest Leadership School, I experienced the “upside of my head” revelation
that I need to reexamine spirituality, religion, and yes, Unitarian
Universalism from a feminist perspective.
I want to
share a few definitions to be sure we are all on the same page before delving
deeper into a non-male, patriarchal-centered view of religion and
spirituality. “Feminism is a range of
movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and
achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for
women.” (Hawkesworth, M.E. (2006). Globalization and Feminist Activism. Rowman
& Littlefield. pp. 25–27). How
feminism manifests in our world has evolved over time, from spiritual leaders
like those in the Thecla movement of early Christianity working to empower
women to search for truth, meaning, purpose outside the patriarchal society of
the time; to political leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton who worked to get
women the right to vote; to the leaders of the Me Too movement like Tarana
Burk, who use social media to confront sexual violence and sexual assault. Feminist ideology has been and is powerful
and potentially life changing for all of us.
Let me
share how life changing feminism was for an elderly member of a congregation
that I served. She was a housewife in
the 1960’s and felt something was missing in her life but couldn’t articulate
what it was. She picked up the book The
Feminine Mystique and realized that she had put aside her needs, feelings,
vocation, almost all of herself. This
congregant wrote: “Unformed as I was in 1967, I knew that my life was going to
change. There was more to me than I knew, and I was going to discover what that
was. By 1975 I was a committed feminist, had a Master’s degree in Counseling
Psychology, and a seedling sense of self. The questions [I was trying to
answer]? As Rilke writes, I was ‘living my way into the answers.’ Not easy, but
necessary. My understanding of feminist
theology tells me I have the right to define my life. I can discern how to grow
into my potential. Further, my personal experience is to be valued, and shared
when I wish. My personal need and desire to grow, and my belief I had a right
and responsibility to live into my potential intersects with feminist theology.
So does my ongoing experience that my creativity enables me to be a catalyst
for others. In very long hindsight I see that I went from not having a self and
living through others, to learning and acting on what mattered to me and
navigating my way in the world as a self-defining woman. Later in my life, when
the psychological quest morphed into a spiritual quest, further evolving
brought me to my Self—the capital “S” standing for a deep, soulful ground
inside of me which is loving, available, and a source of sustenance for myself
and to others.” Does her story sound familiar to some of you, even today?
Now let’s look at theology. Prior to the 20th century, theology focused
primarily on a person’s relationship with their god. Most modern theologians define theology as a
person’s or a religion’s answers life’s ultimate questions: humankind’s
meaning, purpose, existence, as well as one’s belief/nonbelief in a divinity,
in an afterlife, in a soul, and any other natural and supernatural
phenomena. Given that the concepts of
feminism and theology are not static, let’s ground ourselves in a definition of
feminist theology for the purpose of our reflection today:
Feminist Theology “reconsiders the traditions, practices,
scriptures, and theologies of religion from a feminist perspective with a
commitment to transforming religion for gender equality.” (WGS 320 Chapter 8:
Women and Religion flashcards | Quizlet)
I wouldn’t
say that I considered Feminist Theology in my young adult years, but I was
certainly exposed to feminism and a broader understanding of theology as I
entered Unitarian Universalism. Even
though I was brought up in Catholicism and knew about the various saints, I
didn’t hear about St. Thecla until I was a Unitarian Universalist. Some historians/theologians refer to Thecla
as a gender bender—she often dressed as a male—feminist--advocating for women’s
rights, in this case so women could choose who they married and if they
married— prophet—who performed miracles and was the first woman to baptize
anyone, herself and her followers—and spiritual leader—creating religious
sanctuaries for women. You might say,
Rev. Tom, St. Thecla is a fictional character.
We all know the Bible is just one long metaphor, supporting a particular
theology. My response would be that
whether she existed or not, she was an icon for women in early
Christianity. There is much evidence of
her followers, murals, memorabilia, stories and texts that date back to early
Christianity. There was a time—a
millennium and a half ago—when Thecla was a household name, at least in
Christian households. Her following was
huge. Pilgrims flocked to her shrines in
Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. Devotees
committed their lives to her adoration.
Revered as a model martyr and worshiped as a saint in some parts of the
Christian world, Thecla vied for centuries with Mary, the Mother of Jesus
herself, as most the most important person outside the Trinity. More and more women, Christian and otherwise,
are looking for strong women forebears and early women spiritual leaders. Some of them are finding Thecla.
My exposure
to Thecla caused me to wonder why I hadn’t heard of her and all the other women
spiritual leaders that I know must have existed through history. And over time, I began to wonder how our
popular religions might have developed differently if women had been more
prominent and affirmed in our culture.
Today’s
feminists and feminist theologians are expanding our definitions of feminism,
and impacting our culture in tangible and system-altering ways. Today’s feminists insist on inclusive
language and on bringing into our cultural awareness stories centered on strong
women—think Hypatia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The want to define who they are in terms of themselves, not in terms of
who they are related to. They embrace
their individuality and their fierce rebelliousness—rebelling against male-centered
cultural mores and traditions. They
define their own sexuality and their own lives independently of the dominant
patriarchal society; they de-center men when defining who they are.
This change
is not anti-men. It is about changing
societal norms. Feminism and Feminist
Theology are about pushing all of us out of our cultural and religious comfort
zones—to see the world in its completeness, not just in terms of “man, mankind,
father, brother or brotherhood.” Women
want out from under a masculine cultural umbrella, with its gender dualities,
and its black and white absolutism.
Today’s feminists accept and embrace non-binary genders and all the
colors of life.
Let’s consider the meditation
earlier in the service. Essentially what
I asked you to do was let go of control—to let someone gently rock your arm
from side to side while you meditated. I
would guess for many of you this was a little awkward, and perhaps, so outside
of your experience—say, how you define what meditation is—that you had trouble
making sense of what you were supposed to be feeling or thinking or
experiencing. You probably wanted to take back the control of your arm, or you
may not have completely relinquished control.
Often when we talk about spiritual exploration, it is all about letting
go of control, opening yourself up to something new, different, something that
might offer some insight or new awareness, something that opens your mind and heart.
However this meditation might also
give you some insight into what it can be like to be a woman in a patriarchal
society, where someone else makes decisions for you and exerts control over
your body—think about the laws in some states that are obstructing a woman’s
right to have an abortion.
In the book, Tending the Holy:
Spiritual Direction Across Traditions, there is an interesting chapter on a
Feminist Model for Spiritual Direction.
The author, Novene Vest, asks us to consider looking at our spiritual
work through a feminine lens. Vest says
that telling a woman to “let go” to gain some insight doesn’t work well; Vest
suggests that women might instead want to explore how to gain personal
authority and identify a voice in a culture that minimizes or attempts to
suppress their own voice. She goes on to
consider the commonly used metaphor for spiritual work of taking a journey, but
offers this: “Might not a woman be more likely to find freedom in an image that
suggests a safe [enough] place … to conceive and then give birth to a
child? What would be the effect of
thinking of our basic spiritual practice as involving the rhythms of nesting,
gardening, creating a place of beauty…[imagining] a place long treasured, where
we had enjoyed watching the play of light and shadow shift with the seasons and
the years…cherished the rhythms of aging and dying and birthing again as they
appear in the cycle of all living things.”
When I was new to Unitarian
Universalism, I was exposed to James Fowler’s Stages of Faith. These stages were linear, as you developed
spiritually you expanded your understanding of religion and your connection
with others. You progressed from a more
childlike modeling of your parent’s religious beliefs to rejecting them, to
understanding the paradox of spiritual beliefs to putting aside your personal
needs to live your spirituality through helping others. I didn’t realize at the time that this
spiritual model is hierarchical and patriarchal in nature. Getting better, faster, stronger in your
spirituality.
Let’s remove that masculine lens
and look at spirituality through a feminine lens. Let’s explore Maria Harris’s Dance of
Spirit. “She envisions the spiritual
life not as a linear movement, but as a dance; a process not oriented toward a
goal, but rather one of enjoyment, of rhythm and shared pleasure. This dance she envisions has 7 steps, moving
toward the center and then back out again, emphasizing the role of [spirit,
humanity, god/goddess] at each step.”
Here are her steps:
Awakening—awakening from something, coming alive to your senses and opening
up to wonder. Discovering—with new
awareness of who you are, with a willingness to say yes to life and to
yourself. Creating—a time of deep
connections with a sense of brooding or discovering self as a container for new
life. Dwelling—stillness at the center,
at home, in deep connection with spirit, humanity, god/goddess.
Nourishing—beginning to move out from the center, with a practice that nurtures
you, and getting the support of others.
Traditioning—the good that you experience begins to overflow from you,
you are cherishing, teaching, modeling, and you creatively integrate with
others. And Transforming—giving birth to
your renewed self, not just for yourself, but for the world. This stage involves listening, rejoicing, as
well as mourning and bonding. Then the
dance begins again at Awakening. Growth
in this dance is about both having right answers and asking good
questions. Strength is understood as
connections, relationships and mutuality.
Feminist Theology is about a
willingness to buck the patriarchy, to rebel against having your identity
defined by anyone other than yourself, to be willing to be moved and
transformed by new ideas, new concepts, new ways of seeing life. Feminism benefits everyone. It is through
centering women’s experiences in our narratives that we, humankind, can begin
to see the world in a different way than we have been taught.
As I deepen
my understanding of a Feminist Theological worldview, it seems very Unitarian
Universalist, at least how we aspire to be, if we allow ourselves to live
outside the patriarchal norms of our society.
We Unitarian Universalists strive to fearlessly discern who we are as
spiritual beings. And we, like our
forebears, do not allow our spiritual work to be restricted by the
overculture’s messaging. Perhaps it is a
journey or perhaps it is building a safe space, perhaps it is being out of
control or perhaps it is finding your personal agency; we Unitarian
Universalists can learn to be open to all these ways of searching for and
living our spiritual truths. The first
step is Awakening to the Patriarchal Paradigm in which we live and coming alive
to new ways of being and seeing, and embracing wonder. Let the dance begin.
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