Blog Tag: nativity
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The Notable Absence of Birth in Christmas
If we cannot talk honestly about the truth of birth, whether Jesus’ or any other baby’s, and if we continue to erase and dismiss the lived experience of women and center the lives and bodies of men, how can we ever view Mary, or any woman, as fully human?
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Picturing Women in the Nativity
Simply having unnamed female figurines has allowed to play with the story of the nativity in new ways.
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Nativity Ritual
Each year I look forward to the ritual of setting out various handmade nativity sets. The story is a universal one, that of bringing the life of God into the world. I have found depictions of various expressions of this story in different cultures, religions and peoples around the world. A miraculous conception and birth, signs of the coming divine presence, humble witnesses, wise seekers, the bringing of good news. Like countless people now and throughout time, I hunger for such a story.
The nativities that contribute to my yearly ritual show the hand of their maker. The unique expressions,...
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Come Follow Me: Matthew 1; Luke 1 “Be It unto Me...
In this lesson, we will focus on Mary, mother of Christ. Who was she? What can we learn from her? How can modern men and women emulate her? This lesson is scheduled for January in Come Follow Me, but would also make a great Christmas lesson if presented in December.
People often point to Mary as a role model for women, and she is one, but she is also a great role model for men. Encourage class members to think about how her example applies to each of them personally, regardless of their gender.
With that said, it is important that...
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Finding Mary
TW: birth experience
Did she scream? It bothers me, the way we see Mary after the birth, immaculate blue robe, beatific smile, her perky breast that never knew stretchmarks pointing toward heaven. Clean her up for the cameras, I guess. Brush her hair and wash her face so she can look like a Mother of God. It wasn’t her vanity, after all, but the vanity of patriarchs who never were in a birthing room but who painted this moment anyway, without asking if she screamed. I don’t have room in my life for sanitized Mary, the one who looks the...
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The Forgotten Women of the Nativity
Last month, I unpacked my nativity set with my toddler son, handling the smooth olivewood figures carved in Bethlehem for purchase by eager Christian tourists. We named the figures as we put them in the tableau on top of the piano and then stood back to admire the scene. Mary was surrounded by five men, but her gaze took in only her baby.
The overwhelming male-ness of the nativity scene felt jarring. For millennia and across many cultures, including in the days of Jesus, birth was an exclusively female event: a laboring woman was attended by midwives and female family...
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A Christmas Sacrament Meeting, the Sequel
Last Christmas, for the second consecutive year, I was charged with creating the Christmas Sacrament Meeting program in my local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) ward as part of my calling as Ward Music Chair. I embarked on the project with a certain degree of writer's block. What could I do that would be new and fresh (not the same as the year before)? And while I had rewritten the story with more modern, simple language when I was charged with a Primary children's program, and used my own contemporary voice the time I was asked...
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A Feminist Christmas Nativity Story with Kimberly Peeler-Ringer
In this special holiday episode of the Religious Feminism interview series, Kimberly Peeler-Ringer, a licensed minister within the United Church of Christ denomination and author of the Churched Feminist, talks to us about a feminist and womanist interpretation of the Nativity story. We discuss how we can find God's view of women within the backdrop of the patriarchal society where the scripture story is set and its implications for bodily autonomy and consent. You can find episode notes for the Religious Feminism Podcast here at the Exponent website: http://www.the-exponent.com/tag/religious-feminism-podcast/
Links to Connect and Learn More:
The Churched Feminist
Twitter: @churchedfem
Misogynoir isn't a...
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Finding Heavenly Mother in the Nativity
Growing up, the most coveted costume in our nativity box was Mary. Unlike the other ramshackle pieces—a few foil-covered cardboard crowns, some tinsel halos, a couple of old bathrobes, and half a dozen shepherd’s headdresses made of hand towels—Mary’s costume was an unblemished band of smooth, blue fabric. When it was double-looped, it made both a hair covering and a maternity robe, easily concealing the smudgy plastic baby doll that would miraculously appear as the Christ child just seconds after Mary settled in at her makeshift stable.
We had only one Mary costume, which seems appropriate as there’s only one...
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Nativity: A Letter to My Son
na·tiv·i·ty (n -t v -t , n -). n. pl. na·tiv·i·ties. 1. Birth, especially the place, conditions, or circumstances of being born.
Dear Luke,
You're a grown man, turning thirty tomorrow. But every year around this time I see you again as you were–your tiny form making a manger of a down pillow. I was twenty-two and you were my sixteen-day-old Christmastime Baby. I felt so very Mary-like. Maybe that's why I love Virgin De Guadalupe candles and statues and all things Holy Mother. I seemed to understand her and would forever be connected to her because of you.
You had awakened in the...
What is Exponent II?
Exponent II provides Mormon feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
Exponent II was founded in 1974 by a group of Mormon women in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These women were inspired by the original periodical, “The Woman’s Exponent,” to create a forum “posed on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.”
For 50+ years, Exponent II has shared women’s voices in its quarterly magazine, and members of the community have convened at an annual retreat. Our reach has expanded as technology has advanced: the blog, founded in January 2006, has reached millions. As we look to the future, we are focused on growth and building a more inclusive community.
