Terrapin Station

Still feminist after all these years

Found this button on Elizabeth Kaeton's blog, Telling Secrets.  Highly recommend the post in which it appears.  

I have a lot of snarky things to say about why Ginny Thomas might have made her rather odd phone call to Anita Hill's voicemail last weekend, but none of them would advance the conversation.

But I remember that Anita Hill testimony in 1987.  And what rings in my mind is this thought:  "She had nothing to gain from that."  Anita Hill's life was only made hard by the disgusting experience of recounting her disgusting encounters with Thomas.  

Sexual harrassment and discrimination may be much more covert these days, but, oh, they are still there.  Don't you think they are not.  It's easy for a current generation to brush aside what the previous one went through.  But we must never, ever forget.  

Here's a little postcard that I keep a stack of in my desk. I used to see lots of students for advising, and sometimes when they asked about my diplomas, I'd explain that I had a Master's in Literature, with a concentration in French Feminist critical theory.  The girls would almost always screw up their faces and say, "Well, I'M not a FEMINIST."  And so I'd give them a copy of the postcard to take with them and ponder.  No comment, just, "You might want to read this.?  

Friday Five: Friends

If you're ever in a jam, here I am.
If you're ever in a mess, S.O.S.
If you're so happy, you land in jail.I'm your bail.
It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.
When other friendships are soon forgot, ours will still be hot.

I'm thinking a lot about friends these days, the ones who rush to you in times of trouble, with a casserole or a socket wrench or an invitation for coffee or lunch or a trip to the foot sanctuary. We meet friends in school or on the playground or at church or in the workplace and even on the Internet. Even as blogging has experienced some decline, the community here has been strong.

For today's Friday Five, some questions about friendship.

1) Who is the first friend you remember from childhood?  Corey Guest, who went to the same Methodist pre-school I did, and where my mom worked.  The church/school (Chapelwood Methodist in Houston) was in (what I call) a  "big rich" neighborhood and his house seemed like Xanadu!  :)  We were friends right through kindergarten; then he went to the school in that neighborhood and I went to one in mine.  I called him up one day in first grade...and he was quite uninterested in talking with me...which makes sense, for a first grade boy. 
2) Have you ever received an unexpected gift from a friend?  As a matter of fact, earlier this week my dear friend Valerie turned up in my office with a little plaque for me that says, "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our spirits forget how to fly."  Just because.  How great is that!?
3) Is there an old friend you wish you could find again? Or have you found one via social media or the Internet?  I've written before about my college/grad school roommate who I so wish I could reconnect with.  Periodically I check Facebook for her.  One day, maybe. 
4) Do you like to get your good friends together in a group, or do you prefer your friends one on one?  I prefer one on one.  As a good introvert would.  :)
5) Does the idea of Jesus as a friend resonate with you?  Oh yes.  I remember when I realized God was REALLY real, and I was walking and talking to Jesus and said, "Hey!  I'm so grateful that I know you are there, because now I never have to be alone!"  (I think that's kind of the idea.)

I love that picture, by the way.  It makes me smile because I adore the two people in it, one of whom I know well (thanks to blogging and RevGals) and the other I have never met and know slightly...but who enriches my life with her writing each day. 

 

Glory be to our Mother, and Daughter

The Lord is my shepherd, I have all I need
She makes me lie down in green meadows
Beside the still waters She will lead

She restores my soul ,She rights my wrongs
She leads me in the path of good things,
And fills my heart with song

Even though I walk through a dark and dreary land
There is nothing that can shake me,
She has said she won’t forsake me,
I’m in Her hand

She sets a table before me in the presence of my foes
She anoints my head with oil
And my cup overflows

Surely, surely, goodness and kindness
will follow me all the days of my life
And I will live in Her house forever, forever and ever

Gloy be to our Mother and Daughter
and to the Holy of Holies
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

- Bobby McFerrin, dedicated to his mother

Thanks to Reverent Irreverence for the reminder of this...I needed it.

1 of every 10 people

 
From a Facebook status:

‎1 of every 10 people is gay. That means 1 of every 10 people is instantly put down, labeled, left alone, put in a minority and so much more, all for something they didn't choose. Many gay teens are committing suicide as a way of escaping. If you want to tell them life will get better and you respect them for who they are, copy this into your status. Most of you won't, but let's see the 5% who will.

I almost never copy in these FB status things.  Mostly because they tell me to do something, and I don't want to be told what to do.  They make bets on whether I'll do it; the answer is, I won't. 

But the 1 in 10 is an important number for me.  My sophomore year of college, I did a speech in Technical Speaking class on Ryan White.  You remember him, and if you don't, follow the link.  (It was news to my class that day.) 

In my speech, I mentioned (from my careful research) that 1 in 10 people is gay.  I remember the professor saying, "1 in 10!  That can't be right!"  I assured her that my (impeccably documented) source said it was.  She and the rest of the class shook their heads in utter disbelief.  I could not convince them. 

There were 30 of us in that class.  It was Texas A&M in the mid 1980's.  It was an insanely conservative place, but also the home of the Corps of Cadets, which (anecdotes say) has at least its fair share of homosexuals. 

So, probably two to three people in the class were, indeed, gay.  Closeted, almost certainly.  In the years to come I'd go to "the gay bar" in that town with friends.  It was a scary time.  Would it get raided?  The building was a warehouse, completely unidentifiable from the outside.  No one bought mixed drinks then; bottled beer was it, because there was a theory that you might get AIDS from a poorly-washed glass but beer bottles were safe.  One of my friends from that era died, within 10 years, of AIDS, but I am entirely certain he didn't get it from a glass. 

So if there were three people in that class when that statement was made, and refuted...how did they feel?  Marginalized.  Invisiblized.  Nullified. 

It's been 20 years and we are still trying to put forth the facts.  It's time we spoke, shouted, screamed, loudly enough to be heard. 

 

Heart-stoppingly beautiful

The video for the day

Who's cuter than Lucy G?

 
 
Quite possibly, nobody.   

Sending love from Portland. 

Friday Five: Cruise Ship Ministry

Thanks to our Kathrynzj for today's Friday Five.  She says:  ...for today's Friday 5 I thought we'd hit on the things that give us energy in ministry and the things that take it away:

(Please note that I am not in paid ministry but a layperson...!)
1) What are a few of the tasks that you find tedious/energy sucking in your ministry position? Please note I said 'tasks' not people :)  meeeeeeeeeeeetings

 

2) Is there anything you could do to make one of them better?  1) bring knitting 2) have wine served

3) What are a few of the tasks that you find energizing in ministry?  Worship leadership, talking informally with people, outreach

 

4) If given a quarterly spiritual day, how would you want to spend it?  Silent retreat

 

 

5) If given a quarterly spiritual day, how would you actually spend it?  Reading, probably.  :)  But if you will give me that day I promise promise! not to take any books.  K?

 

 

BONUS: What would your Dream Ministry job include?  Listening to people over the long term.