I saw a "motivational poster" the other day that read: "Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even if you don't want to do it." And the picture is of a woman running. My initial thought was "these are not my people." When I have a day off, or the opportunity to sleep in, I find that I am all too often either binge watching something on a streaming service, or I'm reading, or shopping, or just binge watching something on a streaming service. So I have no excuse for not having an entry since March. Oh well.
So let's really quick catch up on a few things...
1. We had Easter and I wrestled with being on Good Friday.
2. We had Pentecost and I spent the day in a lovely community that not only says "All are welcome," but they embody it.
3. I drove the support van for the Pilgrimage of Hope for the month of May (I should have been posting here as well)
4. I went to Mexico City for a week with Jeffrey, Nancy and her sister (lots of Mary reflections that I should have posted here).
5. I am attempting to write my second book but hitting tons of writing block...perhaps I should have been posting 3 & 4 here so that I would have material for my book...
I can always go back and fill in those blanks...
But let's talk about this post's title: Wonder Woman, Mary & Me.
This is the working title of my next book. I'm wrestling with a couple of things here...who cares what I have to say, is this naval gazing, do I have anything to contribute to the conversation. I'm not looking for any answers today, but it's part of what I'm trying to decide.
So here's the premise...a teaser if you will...
You know, faithful reader, that I did my dissertation on Mary. You know she's my homegirl. You know I love her. So, taking the one "unique vocation" of being a model for justice and liberation, I've been thinking of how that model has informed my own ministry--both the ministry I'm engaging in as well as the ministry I aspire to. What my research participants, and I, came to realize was that Mary's ministry, whether as a model for justice, a model of holiness, or a model of spiritual motherhood, her ministry was rooted in her compassion. Everything she did as the mother of Jesus, everything she does now, calling our attention to problems in the community, walking with us in our journey, shouldering our grief...is done from a place of compassion. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes in her book Untie the Strong Woman, Mary is fiercely compassionate and compassionately fierce.
Wonder Woman, the female superhero of my youth, a woman who could fly an invisible jet and by some spinning change from sensible heels and business suit to a fantastic leotard and red heeled boots, was also a powerful model for me. She could beat up villains, deflect evil with her bracelets and fight for good. In doing some research on the mythology of Wonder Woman, one of her story lines is that she was trained for combat by the god Ares. While she was Ares' best student, he warned her that her compassion would be her downfall. Eventually, Ares goes on to become one of Wonder Woman's great nemesis. As one superhero "scholar" reflected, compassion is her downfall because when she's unable to save all the innocent people, she goes into self-imposed exile.
And all this has made me wonder...what do we, as women, as leaders, as human beings, have to learn from Mary and Wonder Woman about being compassionate? What happens to us when compassion is our downfall--in other words, how do we exile ourselves, how do we find the strength when the situation drains of us everything, how do handle it when we're told "no" but we know the answer is "yes"?
So I don't know if my book is part memoir/reflection, part invitation, and part intellectual exercise. Can something have three parts? Three is a holy number, so I suppose it's possible.
I welcome your thoughts on this idea of fierce compassion...feel free to comment below, email me, put a letter in the mail. Your thoughts might actually help me focus on my writing...