September 28, 2023

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As with our physical ailments, where ignoring symptoms or refusing to address small issues can lead to catastrophic illness or permanent pain, our souls can become scarred when we avoid the necessary work of the spiritual journey.

Just as regular movement and healthy habits influence our physical well-being, spiritual disciplines can assist our souls in the same way. While a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean we will never be sick, having practices that nurture our general well-being help us both recover from setbacks and embrace the realities and limits of our human form.

Of course, with soul work it is often easy to ignore the strains and cracks. We distract ourselves with busy schedules, worthy work even. We divert our thoughts with the onslaught of streaming content (shows, books, podcasts, music, etc.) preventing our minds from examining those places of pain.

But sooner or later the fissures expand into craters. It may be from the accumulated weight of multiple griefs; it may come from unchosen transitions or unavoidable questions about our identity. It may be the cost of serving in toxic systems or the impact of misguided theology.

The Bible story of Jacob wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-30), reminded me of the admonition to stay present with discomfort. There is a place for persistence, and there are times when the cost of blessing is a limp.

While approaching faith with wonder and curiosity feels preferable. And embracing mystery and making peace with the limits of our unknowing seems ideal. These postures must be held in tension with the truth that our places of pain cannot be ignored indefinitely. The pinch points and griefs of our lives have much to teach us. 

Consider for yourself…

●     When have you “wrestled” with God?

●     When have you fought for a blessing?

●     What “limp” do you live with from your efforts at faithfulness? ·      

A Blessing for the Wrestling

When you get up, go across, or are sent…

When you feel alone, lost, or wondering…

When you are wrestling, fighting, just barely holding on…

May you remember:

Day is breaking

Blessing is coming

God is speaking your name

Written by Sherah-Leigh Gerber

Writer, Ordained Minister + Spiritual Director at https://shergerber.com

Join in for our next Coffee and Conversation on Sunday, October 29 at 7 pm Eastern to discuss "Bridging the Gaps" amongst our saints, elders, young people and the future.

Just after Hispanic Heritage Month and inspired by the upcoming Dia de Muertos holiday, we'll embrace the lovely Hispanic tradition of respecting and continuing on with the deceased. We'll expand the tradition to include all intergenerational relationships. The gathered group will talk about important women who've impacted us and how we can live into relationships and teamwork that bridge the gaps between our various ages, stages, and seasons of life and death. 

Register now and start thinking of an ancestor, historical figure or older living relative that has made a difference in your life!

We are delighted to welcome Jenny Gehman to Mennonite Women USA's Leadership Circle as East Coast Regional Representative!

Jenny lives in Millersville, PA. She is a freelance writer, spiritual director, and retreat facilitator who is passionate about ministries to women that create community and cultivate hope. She is delighted to contribute alongside others who are doing the same. Jenny and her husband Dan have one biological son, but hundreds more they've loved on through their decades of work with international students. Jenny is a firm believer in the wild, wide-open, warm-hearted welcome of God, our "Holy Host," and believes it is at God’s table we are healed and made whole. 

If you live on in Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia or West Virginia, Jenny is your rep! Reach out to introduce yourself, send her an idea for one of our resources, or tell her about your local women's fellowship. She will bring your voice to our Leadership Circle so we can amplify it across our sisterhood!

As a reminder, Erica Lea-Simka represents the Southwest, Nelly Ascencio represents the Northwest and Cyneatha Millsaps represents the Midwest. Check out our Leadership Circle page to meet everyone and email the office to be connected.

CHOOSING SISTERHOOD

MW USA is always thinking about ways women can get to know each other better. A divide that weighs on our hearts, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, are the obstacles that separate us from our global sisters and their families seeking to migrate from Central and South America.

A pilgrimage is one way to reach across. Mennonite Mission Network offers a "Christ at the Borders Pilgrimage" to learn about the realities and implications of migration, including the reasons causing it and how churches and communities of faith are responding to it. A pilgrimage is an opportunity to consider and then explore how to join together in response to such realities. How can we get to know and help those who, like us, seek a better life, wholeness and peace?

Explore what God is doing to bring about justice and peace in the world and ways in which we can participate in such movements. Plan to go with your women's group, family and friends to learn together how to walk in solidarity and celebration of community.



WOMAN-AUTHORED BIBLE STUDY

MW USA's 2023-2024 Bible Study Guide is available for purchase on the webstore! This year we teamed up with Samantha E. Lioi for the start of a new trilogy over the next three years.

Samantha is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and writer living on the ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee and Wenrohronan peoples in Buffalo, NY. She is ordained in Mennonite Church USA and has served as a pastor and conference peace and justice minister.

Samantha's Bible Study Guide explores a theology of Divine abundance and liberation. Included are full Scripture citations to The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, and each closing prayer is written powerfully in poetry.

Circle up with your sisters around our latest women-authored Bible Study Guide. May it teach us to see the persistence of life and beauty. May it encourage us to relearn and restore mutual regard, reciprocity, and wholeness.

MWUSA donors enable women to come together in hope, healing and solidarity. We circle around the Bible guided by women-authored Study Guides. We are part of an international gathering of women who reflect on self care and each other care through Sister Care. Pooling our support for IWF Scholarships makes new spiritual leadership possible every semester. God moves in our Conversations and Moves Us to places of growth. Every time we come together in person and online we make ever more links so our gifts and networks can bind the world in God's love.

We make a difference so our sisters can make a difference. Donating makes a difference.