“May your heart heal. May the past no longer block your view of the present. May you breathe again, rest again, laugh again, live again. May it be so.” -Dr. Thema Bryant, Thriving in the Wake of Trauma
A woman, the mother of creation, elegant in complexion, adorned with the beauty of heart, spirit, and soul, is wounded and hurt. Violence and anguish is her daily ritual: beaten in her home, violated. She is ill-treated by strangers, dehumanized, rejected, and abandoned by her own people. She is homeless and languishing in poverty. She is denied a quality education, faced with joblessness and inequality, as patriarchy diminishes her to nothingness.
A noble woman—full of wisdom, lover of all, cares for all, and embraces all—who can find. She is everywhere on the streets, lying in shackles, putting on black, in agony, in travail on the streets, crying, looking for the one her heart loves. Woman, woman, woman; mother of all creation; she is abandoned. Who can love her? Who can welcome her in? Who can wipe away her tears? She is hungry; she is thirsty; she longs for a hug, a kiss, a job to work, a shelter to lay her head. She tears her clothes and roams the streets. She cries out loud, “Who can help me? Who can rescue me? Who can save me?” Ah, but she is subjected to inhumane treatment, is silenced, and condemned.
A woman, a mother under lockdown in her home due to COVID-19, battered and bruised in violence by her husband: whipped and reduced to bone and skin, cursing the day she was conceived in the mother’s womb; left to loud cries of suffering day in and day out. Who can rescue her? Who can intervene? Who can give her aid? She is abandoned to suffering with her children.
Love cries out. I hear the cry of our Lord and Savior Jesus in the agony of the cross, heavily exhausted and languishing while carrying the cares and burdens of all humanity: a burden too heavy to carry. He was thirsty and hungry, yet he was committed and determined to carry this burden all the way. Abandoned by his Father, harassed by many, yet Jesus still carries the burdens of all even at the expense of their sins.
Jesus, the excellent mother figure, in agony and anguish of heart, spirit, and body, laments, seeking the ones he loves, humankind. Jesus is like a mother in the labor ward, very much in pain and agonized by the sins of humanity. Jesus is determined not to give up for a stillborn baby but ready to suffer, in order to redeem, to restore, and to revivify humankind to her rightful place of dominion, abundance, and communion with the Father. Jesus cries out: where is the one my heart loves? Jesus feels abandoned by his Father, yes, rejected, mocked, and insulted by the Roman leaders. Through his suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus gave birth to the church and made a new covenant by water and blood.
Prayer:
Gracious God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all you have created.
Hear the cries of every woman: she is hungry; she is thirsty; she is homeless; she is helpless; she is beaten; deformed; rejected, and abandoned by her people. Ill-treated, dehumanized by patriarchy, and roams the streets in rags. God, lover of all you have made, you do not show favoritism; redeem your creation, redeem her beauty, redeem her glory. Vindicate and save her by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Lift her up from the mud of self-pity, violence, and agony to a place of honor, satisfaction, prosperity, and abundance, where her beauty, glory, and wisdom can flourish, valued, and appreciated by all. Bless the fruits of her womb all the days of her life. Let me be an instrument of your grace and love toward everyone, especially those who have needlessly suffered at the hands of another. Enable me to do my part to share in the burden of others for your glory, honor, power, and praise, are yours now and forever. Amen.
If you need help, please contact RAINN, a resource for persons who are confronting sexual violence: https://www.rainn.org/about-national-sexual-assault-telephone-hotline