Patriarchy

The Mystery within...

My Random House Dictionary of the English Language (copyrighted 1966) defines patriarchy as:  "1.  a form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family clan or tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father's clan or tribe.  2.  a society, community or country based on this social organization."

Now in 2016, I Goggled Merriam-Webster's definition of patriarchy: a family, group, or government controlled by a man or a group of men; a social system in which family members are related to each other through their fathers."

Patriarchy doesn't change but thank God we humans are capable of intellectual and spiritual progress. I know it is much more than just daughters that suffer from the patriarchal model; sons and the whole of society are also deprived of integrating the gifts both genders have to offer; integrated gifts that will form the foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world.

In the mid 1990's I remember seeing for the first time the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in1948, that begins:

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, …"

When I read that declaration, during the time patriarchy was coming to the forefront in my life, my first thought was I don't even have inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights in my family, or then church, where I was also active in justice and peace concerns.  But now it helps me understand why progress toward ending racism and homophobia is coming before ending sexism that is held onto through the patriarchal hierarchies of religion.   

Which brings to mind the late Jesuit priest/scientist and mystic Teilhard de Chardin who was silenced by the church.  Chardin saw man’s embrace of woman as consummating a union with the Universe, and in turn, growing to a world scale.  He believed that if each of us can believe that we are working so that the universe may be raised, " . . . then a new spring of energy will well forth..." and "The whole great human organism, overcoming a momentary hesitation, will draw its breath and press on with strength renewed.”

What if we all questioned our relationship with patriarchy and ask ourselves, "What can I do to promote freedom, justice and peace in the world?

Remembering Community

God is...

Having spent much of this past week with just my dog and daughter’s cat for company my thoughts have turned to community and the three days I spent earlier this month on retreat with other women seekers where we experienced compassion for one another and became a healing community.  In the preface to Matthew Fox’s book, “A Spirituality Named Compassion,” he writes: Compassion is not an abstraction, but an entry into our own and others’ pain.  And joy as well. … Compassion is not merely a human energy; it is integral to the universe.  ...Compassion is a mystery. …our very essence, the very best of ourselves is to practice compassion.  … Compassion is important to wounded and oppressed peoples, and to the survival of our planet.    

When I struggled with my aging parent’s care needs, the compassion of others who cared sustained me.  My pain touched others as well.  In my memoir, “God Never Hurries,” I recount words I spoke at a church reform convention’s small breakout group titled “Patriarchy to Partnership.”  I wrote:  I felt empathy for a man in that session who was struggling to understand complicity.  In response to his frustrated disbelief that we all hold some responsibility for abusive patriarchy, I said, ‘My father is a tyrant.  I suffered most of my life under his tyranny until God showed me my complicity and I started standing up to him.  I am now the only one in the family who stands up to him.  My father is still a tyrant, but I am no longer his subject.’  After I spoke those words I felt a new level of acceptance and deeper change taking hold in me.  Applause from the group surely helped along with some hugs at session’s end, but most affirming were words from one woman who said, “You really helped me.”

During that most difficult time in my life I never met some of the people in my helping community but only spoke with them on long distance phone calls.  The following is from my memoir:  Outside of alerting social services agencies that my parents now had no care, and my mother could be in serious jeopardy, there was precious little I could do except trust God had a plan and accept whatever happens, happens.  Pouring my heart out to these professionals over the past two years had not been in vain.  Now the greatest help they gave me were their respectful long distance voices.

What if the next time we are “Wherever two or more are gathered together…” we look for the mystery within us that is named Compassion, and respond to one another with respectful voices.