Agape House UIC

Every time I go to see the Vagina Monologues, I think about my mom. (By the way, the women of UIC did an amazing job this past weekend! Bravo!) This past weekend was the first time I saw the monologues since my mother died last summer. I cannot help but picture my mother every time I hear, I Was There In The Room. The bleeding and the sacrificing of the vagina and the heart are vivid descriptions not only of birth, but of the warmth of the love my mom showed for me... even when I was disobedient!

The warmth of my mother's love helped me better understand what the warmth of God's love feels like. I have never felt the warmth and comfort of love to that degree anywhere other than God and my mom (the love I share with my partner is slightly different, though also included in divine love). I know my mom carried me through the teething process, through toilet training, and through my self-discovery in high school and college in addition to the time I spent in her womb. I have no doubt that she helped carry me during my interview for this job a week after her funeral.

Notice the similarity to words from the prophet Hosea: Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. (Hosea 11:3-4)

We also have Deuteronomy: You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. (Deuteronomy 32:18)

Let us remember all the women who mirror the love of God for us. Let us lift up their voices. Let men be silent for a time. Let us consider all that She* suffers for us and how much She* suffers with us, as we wind our way through Lent.

*For women's heritage month, I'll be using only female gender pronouns for God in honor of the feminine characteristics that God envelops in addition to the masculine.