Loading...Sermon March 13, 2016
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43:18-19
Please be seated.
I have to say that at times I become so discouraged about being a woman in this world and the plight of women around the world. Listen to these facts from a variety of sources, including the United Nations, The Global Fund for Women, and The Center for American Progress:
Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty: it is estimated that 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls.
On average, women make up about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. Evidence indicates that if these women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent, raising total agricultural output in these countries by 2.5 to 4 percent. This would reduce the number of hungry people in the world by around 12 to 17 percent.
Women in sub-Saharan Africa collectively spend about 40 billion hours a year collecting water. This significantly impacts women's employment opportunities.
Every additional year of primary school increases girls' eventual wages by 10-20 percent. It also encourages them to marry later and have fewer children, and leaves them less vulnerable to violence.
//www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7BA98DAD81-089D-418F-81B2-6258D2909125%7D/STATUS%20OF%20WOMEN.PDF
More rural women experience domestic violence, and yet few seek services, according to a multi-country study by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Gender-based violence against women - female infanticide, sexual trafficking and exploitation, dowry killings and domestic violence - causes more death and disability among women in the 15 to 44 age group than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. [Center for Women Policy Studies, 2003]
Over $7 trillion worth of women’s work goes unpaid. [United Nations Platform for Action, 2002]
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/StateOfWomen_Pennsylvania.pdf
Pennsylvania ranks 28th overall in a variety of factors regarding women, including economic security, leadership and health. Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom third of states – 38th out of 50 – in terms of economic security for women! Women in Pennsylvania make 76 cents for every dollar a man makes, putting us in the bottom third of states. Fifteen percent of women in Pennsylvania live in poverty.
I’m a great whiner and complainer, so I could go on and on about the daily experiences I face due to the fact that I am a woman. If I let these facts and my experiences consume me for too long…if I dwell on them too much… I become paralyzed. For my sake and the sake of others, I allow myself only a short amount of contemplation on these facts. I allow myself to have bursts of anger over these realities. Mostly I try to focus on the many blessings I have when compared to women in much of the world and during other times in history. Sometimes I’m able to engage in advocacy to make things better.
AND maybe that’s really not the best strategy.
These verses from Isaiah 43:18-19 that we heard today offer great hope. I don’t have to remember the things of old…the things past. I can forget the days when I couldn’t have a checking account in my own name because of my gender. I can forget the days when I wouldn’t have been allowed to learn how to read. While I had hoped to be married a long time like my parents and grandparents, I can be glad that in this day and time, as a woman, I can provide for myself. I can forget the days when some of my friends could not be ordained and could not stand in this pulpit.
Because, God is doing a new thing. God is always doing a new thing! I know, I know, that can be very hard to live in times of change. It can throw us off balance and require so much effort.
So, I see God doing a new thing this very week as the 60th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women convenes once again in New York City. Our very own Episcopal Relief and Development is hosting an event on Monday evening regarding “Engaging Men of Faith to be Champions in the Fight to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Women.” This is just a small part of an ongoing effort within our church for men to become involved in ending sexual and gender-based violence against women.
I see God doing a new thing recently through Marley Dias, who lives in a Philadelphia suburb in New Jersey. You may have heard about her. Marley is 11 years old. She was tired of reading the assigned books in school featuring boys who are white or dogs or boys who are white with dogs. She told her mother about this one day and her mother asked what she planned to do about it.
Marley launched a campaign to collect 1000 books showing girls who are African-American just like her as characters. Marley explained that having characters in books that reflect her makes her connect with the book more. Obviously, she feels that having diversity represented in books is important in many ways.
Marley hoped to collect 1,000 books in a month by February 1. She’s collected 4,000. She was going to send some to Jamaica where her mother is from, but I believe she’s expanded that to give some to other libraries in the Philadelphia area that need more books. She and her mother will also compile a list of all of the books and authors and post that so everyone will have access to these books. Recently, she’s said she’d like to encourage school boards to include books with more diversity in their curriculums.
Marley has been interviewed by NPR, Charlie Rose, Larry Wilmore, and Ellen DeGeneres to name a few. I’ve heard her a couple of times and marveled at her composure and confidence. She also says she wants to remain humble, so she’s not told people like her babysitter or friends about all of her appearances and interviews.
Even when I feel despair and great sadness at the reality of the lives of women in this world, I feel such joy when I see the efforts to include men in working for improvement of women’s lives and the efforts of an 11-year-old girl to change what children read.
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Amen
