Did you hear the one about the . . .
September 29, 2009
Elizabeth A. Clark, Joyce E. Salisbury, Elizabeth Moltmann-Wendel, James B. Nelson and I are having a meeting in my study right now. They just gave a much needed critique on my three completed chapters. Dr. Nelson asked me to teach one of his classes for him next fall while he is on sabbatical.
Every last bit of that is true except for the meeting, three completed chapters, and the request to teach for Dr. Nelson. However, I am staring at their books. They look fabulous on my desk.
maternal health bible study today
June 25, 2009
So much to share, but one computer . . .
six people,
pricey internet
=
no words.
I’m on my way to the village for a maternal health Bible study. This will be the third visit of the trip. The women have taught me so much already.
Amsterdam and The Lady
June 19, 2009
The Amsterdam Airport is where I write this post. Our bodies are tired and confused, but thankful to be on the journey.
So far, our trip in numbers:
3 girls
6 checked bags (remember, we have birthing kits)
2 airports
Happy Birthday Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tanzania
June 17, 2009
Tanzania
June 18 – July 22
Maternal Health Field Research and Listening Journey
Updates Coming Soon
embodied
May 10, 2009
I spent the afternoon with one of my favorite people in the world. I’ve always been completely amazed at her natural, God-given gift to minister with presence. She is one of those embodied individuals who fits well in her own skin and as a result, when I’m with her, my skin fits better too.
My friend’s mother is in the advanced stages of a debilitating illness. She cares for her mother by bathing her, feeding her, and creating opportunities to laugh with her. We talked about the power of caring for the body. We talked about the power of touch. She said her mother doesn’t know her anymore and she prays that maybe, on some level, her mother recognizes her touch. “Her hand around mine is the most familiar grasp I know,” she said. “The next time you are with your mother, grab her hand and close your eyes. You could recognize her touch even without sight.” Her words made me cry.
Our bodies are more than vessels. Our bodies are ourselves and when a disease takes our ability to remember or communicate, we still have the need to know and to be known by someone. “We cannot be human alone.”
Body Theology is beyond what I ever imagined when Dr. Noble first suggested I couple the area of study with maternal health. I have become as passionate about the health of an individual’s body theology as I have the health of a pregnant woman and her safe delivery. This realization of the importance of our bodies and the bodies of those around us, affects the way I look at strangers on the street. It affects the way I relate to those I love. It affects the way I think of my own body.
Conversations like the one I had today move me spiritually. It is an honor to care for one who is sick. It is an honor to feed friends a meal that will nourish their bodies. It is an honor to grasp the hands of our mothers.
I know my friend is a wonderful caregiver. On this eve of Mother’s Day I celebrate my friend and her mother whose grasp she knows well. May she take time to care for her own body in the midst of a holy act fraught with love and frustration.
1778
April 28, 2009
That is how many words I just wrote.
Staniloae
April 27, 2009
Too many words in my head. Dear Universe, are there any grants out there for women studying body theology and maternal health? I would like to write full time please. I know it is a luxury and I know that others have written without them, but if there are any – please let me know.
Love, Suzanah
The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Vol. 2. The World: Creation and Deification
Dumitru Staniloae
2005
“The body cannot be understood apart from the spirit . . . The body is the primary reservoir of those countless contingent material possibilities that are being made actual by the spirit through the agency of an equal number of its own inherent possibilities, which are capable of being brought into act. Yet, apart from the body the possibilities of the spirit could not be actualized. In some fashion the spirit, too, is being formed through the body or receives the impression of its seal.”
(SDR would like to thank Dr. Noble for the Staniloae introduction)
Why Global Maternal Health Matters
April 8, 2009
“We need to create an awareness in communities that maternal health is an opportunity to reach women about other issues,” explained Koki Agrawal, director of the ACCESS project.
Connections
March 23, 2009
Preached at Central Baptist Church in Altavista, VA yesterday. Before the service I spoke in their ladies’ sunday school class. After church I had lunch with the Virginia Baptist WMU President.
It was a day of maternal health speak. The more this happens the more comfortable I feel with my research topic. As I preached and shared with Ann, my US field study outline appeared. New plan, always record those “talk sessions”. I definitely have a chapter outline and many words on a page. This one seems to be coming together easier than the chapter on body theology. I’m getting too bogged down in the body theology details – but how is it possible not to? Details matter.
*editor’s note: I did not read the story I linked to about Ann Brown until after I titled this post.
