Disembody.
Fragment.
Break.
Divide.
Dismember.

i have been thinking about these words the last couple of hours and two Bible women have been on my mind:
1. The concubine of Judges 19-21
2. The women caught in adultery in John 7:53 – 8:11

the account of the concubine has to be one of the goriest accounts in the Hebrew Bible. it makes me shiver every damn time! my entire body gets swallowed in the pain of this unnamed woman. how the men failed her, including her husband who just shoved her out to the ‘wolves’ as it were. as if that is not enough guy cuts up her dead body into twelve pieces to make a point. a point i am certain would not have needed making if he had stood up to those whose intention was destruction of his concubine.

then the account of the woman caught in adultery. hurled at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth. i am certain she was half dressed if not almost naked. adultery is at least a two human tango but for some reason the men that brought this woman to Jesus only brought one party. Jesus of Nazareth saw right through them and chose not to entangle himself in their shenanigans. in the end this woman is left alone with Jesus who sees her and loves on her.

. . .

the casual fragmenting of women’s bodies in the Bible and in life is numbing. . .
women within the Christian faith continue to be on the receiving end of evil and wickedness all in God’s name . . .
men within the Christian faith continue to ‘thrive’ on the backs of bleeding women and children . . .

reminds me of Jesus of Nazareth . . .
the man whose body was fragmented . . .
the man who bleeding body was unjustly nailed on a cross . . .
the man on whose back, on whose life, on whose words the bodies of women in the the past and present have been and continue to be fragmented . . .

. . .

i have been writing a book on women of/in the Bible for the longest . i hope to actually do it sometime. sometime soon.