This Advent we will be diving into the life of Mary. Mary, a poor, young girl among an occupied people was given the incredible task of leading a movement. In the Christian calendar Advent is a season of waiting. The waiting is one of great anticipation and hope, as Advent means the coming of Christ. Waiting can evoke a kind of stillness. There is holy reverence in our quiet wait, but often, in our society waiting is silencing. “How much longer do we have to wait”? We often find ourselves crying out.
For brown mothers waiting at the border seeking asylum for her and her children—how much longer must we wait?. For the black mothers who are waiting for a system to end the killing of their children—how much longer must we wait?. For the trans mothers who are waiting for inclusive healthcare—how much longer must we wait? Trying to live within systems not designed with you in mind and told to simply wait is dehumanizing.
A Womanist, Intersectional Advent says, “Rise up because you are what this world has been waiting for”. And though exploited, Advent hope in our communities are not to be used in service of upholding a white supremist society or church. Rather our hope is a hope rooted in the reality that God has come and the work of liberation is completed in and through us. The waiting is not a submission— it is a declaration that “I am taking my place” as Mary sang in the Magnificat.
Join us this December for the Embodied Advent Bible Study. We will be approaching the text from a Womanist, Intersectional theological framework utilizing Womanist, Courtney Hall Lee’s book Black Madonna: A Womanist Look at Mary of Nazareth. We will be meeting on December 7th, 14th & 21st via Zoom from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
the cost of texts should NOT be a barrier to participation. If you need financial support to access the book, let deanza@valleyandmountain.org know and we will have a book sent ot you.
What is an embodied bible study? Embodied study is a practice of bringing all the parts of ourselves to our reading and discussion of the text. What do you notice in your body when you are connecting to the story? All of the signals are messages of resonance with the story. We will engage in rituals for listening to our embodied responses and making space to express what those responses are. Growing up in the church, Bible studies were typically valued for being intellectual spaces. These spaces valued how much you could memorize and how much you knew. This Bible study is about how you connect to the story. Our connection is the seed to transformation.
