A Psalm for Afghanistan

 Psalm 120 came alive with some research.

The author is distressed as he lives in Meshach in the tents of Kedar. Where and what do these mean?

The grandson of Noah, Meshech is described as a human trafficker in Ezekiel 27:13. Cities and regions were named after people, so I assume that the Psalmist had landed in a place with purveyors of humans around him.

Kedar is not better. The name means blackness and sorrow. The tribe of Kedar was known as warriors who were never at peace. They won some, they lost some, but they were always at war. This link has some fascinating data to think about. I haven't verified that they know everything they are talking about, but it provides some historical speculation. https://nabataea.net/explore/history/12tribes/

These places sound like modern times, don't they? Human trafficking, war, blackness and sorrow.

So back to the beginning of the chapter. When we cry in our distress in the tents of sorrow, trafficking and war, God hears. He might not answer as we think, but He hears.

So consider the story of Ruth and Naomi with me. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. But it wasn't the end of the story. No, in the end it was redeemed by even giving Ruth as an outsider a place in the family tree of the Messiah, Jesus. Ruth and Naomi came in a sense of the word, from Kedar (blackness, sorrow) to enter into a story of hope and redemption in Israel.

Whether we get to see the end of the story that is currently happening in Afghanistan where the Taliban seem to have a huge lot in common with the warriors of Kedar is not the point. The thing we need is to believe that God is still good, that He is still working on drawing people to Himself, and He is still redeeming stories like Ruth and Naomi. He is offering unlikely opportunity and position to people who trust Him. The people, like Ruth, may never know what that important role was, but God does. 

In this moment, we know God hears. God is doing something. We may not see it, but we can rest assured that He is working just as He always has. We just need to trust Him. 

And yes, it doesn't feel fair or right that we are safe and blessed while places like Afghanistan or Myanmar are in the middle of fire. We can pray. We can ask God how He wants us involved in the world. We can trust that God, not evil, will win in the end. And instead of worrying about what all might happen before the end of the world, let's make sure our hearts are ready for the End of our lives.

The Voice of a Woman

 This article started my thinking:

https://velvetashes.com/lessons-from-when-i-belonged-at-the-zoo/

And a quick Google search found this article:

https://lausanneworldpulse.com/lausannereports/740/06-2007

All my life, I have been told to tone it down. Be quiet. Don't say anything. And I understand why. 

I don't want to challenge authority, and I'm not here to throw out the status quo. I'm not here to say we need women preachers, etc... God forbid that anyone think so.

But these articles bring me to tears. Not just for my personal experience, but because I know the stories of other women. 

And I remember how closely I broke down and cried on the spot when a preacher told me that single women are an essential and needed part of the church. I didn't know him well enough to cry in front of him, but I did on the way home. I didn't realize how much it meant to be seen as fully human for once. To be seen by a Mennonite man as having something to offer to the church.

It's okay for women to go to foreign places, but then their voice doesn't matter. Especially if they are single. I'm speaking for silent ones. I know. May I ask why we can go and are encouraged to do as well as "not waste our lives waiting on the man," but then be treated as 2nd rate citizens whose opinions don't matter when we show up?

If women's Sunday school classes can be taught by women, what would a sending organization for women be like if at least a few ladies were on the executive panel? At least a women's auxiliary of member care?

I'm not here to shake everything loose, and for the most part, the male led businesses that I have worked for are far more functional than the female led enterprises. I personally tend to feel more secure when there's good solid men in leadership. 

But my personal plea is this: only a female cheerleader gets what it feels like to be a woman running a race. What about putting a single woman or two on a plane to visit the women serving around the world instead of the board and their wives? What about a class taught by a woman to women who want to go to the field? Or other prepping that is not all male led?

I know. It falls flat coming from one of us. But it's my appeal. You don't need to shift the world several tectonic plates and cause an earthquake. Just acknowledge there's a few things about women that it takes a woman to understand, and leave us to our tea party devices.

There's places where women might have stayed, and would still be making a major impact if they would have had the moral support they needed. There's losses that should be mourned by men and women who passively watched women burn out. We needed you. We forgive you for it, but I for one won't watch other women go down. So I use my small voice to say this... 

Women need women in places where their voice is heard and understood.