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       Speaking for Ourselves

       Speaking for Ourselves

      VOICES OF BIBLICAL WOMEN

       Katerina Katsarka Whitley

      Copyright © 1998 by Katerina Katsarka Whitley

       Morehouse Publishing

      P.O. Box 1321

      Harrisburg, PA 17105

      Morehouse Publishing is a division of The Morehouse Group.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

      Printed in the United States of America

      Cover art: Jewish Museum, New York/SuperStock. Ruth Takes Away the Barley by James J. Tissot.

      Cover design by Trude Brummer

       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Whitley, Katerina Katsarka.

      Speaking for Ourselves : voices of biblical women / Katerina Katsarka Whitley.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      ISBN 0-8192-1758-1 (pbk.)

      1. Women in the Bible. I. Title.

BS575. W533 1998 98-38339
220.9'2'082—dc21 CIP

       To Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis, and to DeWitt Myers and Rudy Whitley— all guides to the Light

       Contents

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

       1. To a Poor Girl, Such Promises!

       Mary Remembers the Coming

       2. Was This the Promise God Had Given Me?

       Mary Remembers the Last Hours

       3. Being Called by Name

       A Witness to the Resurrection

       4. The Dance in the Womb

       Mother to One of God’s Chosen

       5. My Side of the Story

       Wife to One of God’s Chosen

       6. Even the Dogs Eat the Crumbs

       The Faith of an Outcast

       7. Spending It All for the Saints

       The First Convert in the Land of Alexander

       8. Jealous of God’s Favor

       Miriam’s Secret

       9. God of Our Mothers

       Ruth Gives Her Legacy to Obed

       10. Will Israel Ever Learn?

       Tamar Confronts Her Father, King David

       11. Is He Only a God of War?

       Michal Puzzles the Question

       12. My Name Is Not Israel

       Gomer’s Account of Her Story in Two Parts

       Bibliography

       Acknowledgements

      I am grateful to all the parishes and women’s groups that have invited me to present some of these monologues in the place of a sermon or on other occasions, and to the rectors who offered me the pulpit, especially to the Reverend Judson Mayfield, who first said that Mary’s monologues belong within the celebration of the Eucharist. The reaction of the listeners filled me with surprise and awe, and convinced me that I should make these available to readers and to other interpreters of the Word.

      It is difficult to thank all the writers who influenced me in my understanding of these women of the Bible. Eternal gratitude to my father, who read the Bible to me when I was too young to know anything but the feeling the stories created in me of beauty, terror, sacrifice, and love. To Dorothy L. Sayers and all the writers and teachers who helped me emerge from the literal reading of the Bible into the light and terror of biblical criticism, I owe many thanks.

      I want to thank Marilyn Bentov, Ph.D., for teaching me the meaning of the midrash. “Miriam’s Secret” was written in her class as a midrash exercise.

      The Syrophoenician woman’s contribution to Jesus’ understanding of his mission to the rest of the world, not just “to the children of the house of Israel,” I owe to Bishop Bennett Sims, who preached on this story in Anaheim, during the 1985 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and caused me to look at her with new eyes.

      My son-in-law, Kenneth Craig, Ph.D., with his love and knowledge of the Old Testament, helped me see the women with a deeper understanding of the historical circumstances surrounding them.

      My friend Linda Chamberlain, who heard me read the first monologue, “To a Poor Girl, Such Promises!” and asked with enthusiasm, “Do you know what a strong feminist story this is?” gave me the idea to explore this liberation theme in the lives of other biblical women.

      And to my two daughters, Niki and Maria, I owe the warmest thanks for teaching me the wonder, awe, and tender love (storgé) of motherhood. They have made all the mothers in the Bible

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