Phnom Penh, 19/01/11
Women and the Kingdom
A call for a tender revolution
It’s not that women aren’t there.
It’s not that their presence is not seen or felt.
It’s not that they’re not working or praying
Or fighting or holding hearts to heaven
Hastening His return.
Women are there.
Some standing strong
Faithful and resilient.
Some sitting down
Listening and longing.
Some bent low
Broken and bewildered.
And some, if not many
On their knees
Where they think they should be,
Out of habit and humility,
Tradition and contrition,
Custom and conditioning,
Out of obligation and fear.
So is this the time
For a tender revolution?
A time for minds to be unconformed
For knees to be dusted,
Feet to feel the earth,
Bodies to rise
And songs to be sung?
A tender revolution
That’s not aggressive
Or focused on rights
Or demanding
Or an angry surge
Bursting from wells of bitterness.
Instead is it a time
For a gradual awakening?
Of light slowly leaking,
Peppering the earth,
Glimpsing beauty
And sparkles of jewels
Emerging from hidden places?
Of sorrow rising
In the hearts of men
Over voices
They have missed
And longed for
Without knowing
In their doing what
They thought to be right?
Is it a time to look to Jesus
Who knew what it meant to lift up
And welcome women?
Never patronising or fearful,
Never assuming superiority,
Never undermining.
Instead seeing broken hearts
Through holy eyes.
Meeting boldness
With humour and ease;
Challenging and surprising,
Esteeming and loving,
Wildly approving
With fierce and forgiving purity.
If this is a time for a tender revolution
Then it starts on our knees:
The young and the old,
The anxious and the bold;
Male and female -
Created in the image of God.
Bowing down to begin
A new and beautiful way
Beyond the limits of
Dream or imagination.
A welcoming, at last, at last,
Of the missing voices,
The missing jewels
That will turn heads and reveal
The fullness of the Bride.