This is a Celebration!

This entry is not in the tradition of my blog, but I post it out of necessity.

This is a celebration!

A celebration of my ancestors, of my Nanny, of my mother, of Maya Angelou, of the scandalous old testament women, of Anna, of Trinh, of Aunt Sandra, of HRC, of Mary Jo, of Dawn, of every woman and especially every woman whose had to put up with something, anything, simply because they were a woman.


Our celebration comes to light through a tribute to one woman in particular: Amy Butler.
Here are a few reasons I celebrate Amy.

Diamond Thighs:

"Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?"

In her official capacity as a Baptist Reverend, Amy was recently asked to recite Mrs. Fenty's favorite poem at incoming DC Mayor, Adrian Fenty’s prayer breakfast. The poem was Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”, a celebration of resilience and the fulfillment of ancestors' dreams. The stanza above is quite a line for a pastor! But I argue it’s common speak for a true woman of God.

“Son of David” seems to be the most common phrase used to reference Christ’s earthly lineage, but the Testaments also list five women in the lineage of Christ: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary, and they are each quite scandalous. After being denied her rights, Tamar, often called vengeful, tricked her father-in-law into sleeping with her and thus bore a child. Rahab was an occupational prostitute who committed treason. Ruth: a Gentile who chose to lie on the threshing floor until her distant relative took pity on her, slept with her and claimed her as wife. Bathsheba was an adulteress and arguably a co-conspirator in the pre-meditated murder of her husband. And Mary of course, was an unwed, pregnant teen, forever given the prefix “Virgin,” (which is sort of ironic given the indecent conditions of conception for the rest of the lineage.) Yet all of these women were favored by God. But here’s my point: Amy bears this tradition by not abandoning her womanhood for the sake of her job, nor trading it in for a pink skirt suit and a cultural norm of patriarchy-driven “good womanly behavior”.


Kingdom Logic:

A mentor recently told me how her colleagues were more worried about formal titles and promotions, than doing good, productive work. As they were going into a meeting, she overheard their unwitting desires to get ahead at the expense of others. The irony, she said, was that the meeting was to discuss some enormous opportunities for positive social change in the community. So she had to ask: Would the work they were proposing really matter, if they continued to live their own lives adhering to the very rat race they were trying to defeat? I believe Amy gets this. I’ve seen her encourage her employees to pursue their dreams, even when it meant them leaving their job and leaving Amy short-handed. She sees that if each of us isn’t living out the purpose we were put here for, whatever it is, then together we aren’t accomplishing all that we could. That is putting the Kingdom first.


Innovative:

Here’s what Wikipedia itself an incredibly innovative product, says about innovation:

Innovation is the introduction of new ideas, goods, services, and practices which are intended to be useful. The main driver for innovation is often the courage and energy to better the world. An essential element for innovation is its application in a commercially successful way. Innovation has punctuated and changed human history…

Amy is innovative. In the few years I’ve known her, she has so increased her repertoire of professional, pastoral skills and knowledge that she has been the driving force of a revived community. She has taken her obvious passions for scripture and applied them over and over in new ways, always willing to back step and take another approach. Most simply put, her work, in this case preaching, has just gotten better. She has pursued fellowships, working groups and degrees, all to improve her work, which in turn, improves my life.





Congratulations Amy on choosing life!

Woman applauds you.