Fire and Brimstone Scenario

I got to thinking about Lael's post and tried a couple of times to post comments but I've got too much to say, AND the beauty of owning this blog is that I can create my own posts! So this is really in response to Lael and best to read her post first.

Lael asks a fun question -- what happens if we don't address this issue? I think this scenario is worth investigating because, in general, scenarios are an interesting way to explore the importance and the ripple effect of any one issue.

My scenario plays out a little like a scene from Witches of Eastwick -- a film I love... the sexy slimy devil is foiled by the strength and passion of three big haired women. It's definitely a role I can see myself playing (the big haired part). Sigh... I digress...

In the scene, the women realize that they are all candidates for Jack's affections and they begin turning on each other through some "back handed" aggression (Ha! I crack myself up... they are actually playing tennis in the scene). Suddenly, the sky cracks open. Hail the size of golf balls crashes down. Thunder clashes and lightening strikes.

It's a great metaphor for the underlying, almost spiritual, value created when women are working together. Women helping other women is not simply about making progress -- helping other women get ahead, changing behaviors by modeling confidence in women's work and women's leadership,  mentoring young women and helping them step into their full potential. 

These are all very important actions that will change the role of women in society. But we must also look at the cancerous energy created when women work against each other. This not only curtails positive energy, it erodes a progressive zeitgeist. We begin buying into negative propaganda, distrust flourishes, we stop thanking each other, holding doors, cheering each other on. We stop thinking the world can be a better place; we stop trying to make the world a better place. We begin looking out for our self-interests; we let greed be our motivation.

Women helping women is the cornerstone of our social fabric. It's more than just actions; it's the energy force that fuels progress and our faith in humanity. We have to be vigilant in keeping this energy force positive. Because women not helping other women also creates energy -- but the kind that destroys rather than creates.

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[Rev. Elsa A. Peters]

Both of these posts reflect the conversation we shared at New Girls last month. I admit that this conversation frustrated me -- and still does.

My problem is this: I work in an institution in which women are the backbone. They are the life blood. It is only within the past 30 years that women are really able to be leaders in this institution. Though individual congregations have allowed female leadership, it has been very limited before the 1970s. I am an exception. I am a leader in this institution -- and my work is largely with the women in it.

To me, these posts reflect what church leaders loathe most -- the conversations in the parking lot. If you've ever been to a meeting and had a conversation with like-minded people afterward, you know what I'm talking about. It's the often toxic nature of finding people that share your resentments and allowing those to be the only topic of conversation. It is here in the parking lot where people get angry about what's wrong with the institution instead of going inside the building to share in the work together.

I work with women of all ages who are able to work together to do amazing things. We talk about our spiritual paths while we work. This might be an important bond -- but I think it represents the importance of finding the things that connect us rather than the things that divide us.