Soren Kierkegaard is taking a well-deserved rest this week. I sat down in my white wooden rocking chair and gazed at my bookshelf. It sits against the wall beside the big window in my bedroom and is full to the brim with all my favorite books. Well, not all. Some are still residing in Rubbermaid tubs.
There are so many books here, many of which have been started but not finished. I need to finish some of these. With thought came action: I put down Fear and Trembling (unfinished) and took up Feminist Theology by Natalie K. Watson. It’s a remnant of my husband’s B.A. textbooks, and I began reading it way back in 2008. I made it through roughly half the book, small as it is, despite lack of sleep, two toddlers, and a preschooler. Then, for some reason (likely fatigue), I put it down and it has reposed tranquilly on my bookshelf through six years and three different moves, at least until today.
Today when I sat down in my rocker, I picked it up, gazed at the picture on the cover of Elizabeth and Mary embracing, and opened up to my bookmark. [The bookmark happens to be a receipt from Ralph’s Farm Market and is dated 2008.] I found a likely spot and began reading. This is the gem I happened across:
Some feminist authors have…moved away from the person of Christ as a male human being and focused more on the relationships of power transformed into love that are realized through the community of Christ.
I love that phrase – “relationships of power transformed into love“. I also am intrigued by the notion that the transformation of power relationships into loving relationship happens best in “the community of Christ”. Fits so well into my Anabaptist theology.
I would love to hear your story of the church allowing the transformation of power into love. Send me an email or a quick comment with your experience.
Learning to Live 