Tuesday, July 16, 2013

End of Series on Motherhood



     This concludes my Lamentations series on "The Fallen State of Motherhood," which I wrote for my Old Testament class this past spring at Moody Theological Seminary. I want to thank Dr. James Coakley, the graduate school professor who taught the class and who gave each student the freedom to customize this assignment into a living, breathing, practical  reality. Writing on motherhood was a cathartic journey I doubt I would have embarked upon were it not for Dr. Coakley’s creative assignment.

     I would also like to thank another of my Moody professors, Dr. William Thrasher, who taught my New Testament class this past semester. Dr. Thrasher eloquently sums up my Christian worldview on men and women when he says, “A woman is superior to a man at being a woman and a man is superior to a woman at being a man.” 
     “Thank you” for clarifying so succinctly what many have utterly confused and turned upside down.

     I am grateful to God for the privilege of studying at Moody and becoming a part of the family.



“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:6-10



Monday, July 15, 2013

Post #5: Final Lament: A Prayer for Motherhood



(This is the last installment in a series on the loss of motherhood based on the Book of Lamentations which I wrote as a final class project at Moody Theological Seminary this past spring. For more information, see previous posts.)


A Prayer for Motherhood

Remember, O LORD, Motherhood.
Silence the dirge; bring her back to life!
Highly ordained and positioned by you,
motherhood is our portion.
May it not be so that we reject her.
May we revere your order and wisdom.
May our hearts be joyous in Motherhood.
Let no thief enter her quarters.
Let no philosophy water her down.
I pray, O LORD, your sanctifying presence.
Guard what enters her door.

Do not let us become orphans.
Let the mothers be mothers!
Those who demean motherhood
are at our heels—
we are weary and find no rest.
Joy threatens to leave us,
or is gone.

Revive us Lord.
Do not let us mourn.
Reign forever over motherhood.
Do not forget your creation,
nor utterly forget her.
Restore her to yourself, O LORD,
that motherhood may return     (Lam 5:21)
and endure from generation 
to generation! (Lam 5:19)
                                                                                                     Barb Harwood