~~~Islands of Palau in the South Pacific
In 1984, one year after I began teaching, I attended a gathering of faculty from 6 or 7 sister seminaries. We were together for one weekend. There weren’t many women professors in the group.
Because I was the newest female professor Read the rest of this entry »
red ochre seeps
through thin young veins
leaves blush
* * *
In Fall 1999 I went with D to a seminary near Nairobi, Kenya, for my fall sabbatical. D has a long history with the seminary. I’d been once before. This was my first longer-term visit.
Mom had died in February that year, 78 years old. I was still grieving, shaky and uncertain about my identity without Mom present in my life.
My teaching load was light. I facilitated my favorite seminar ever–how to reflect theologically on biblical narrative–attended seminary functions, did a little speaking and a lot of listening and travel.
Just after we arrived, we went to the fall faculty retreat at a conference center outside of Nairobi, near Mt. Kenya. D took this photo on our way back to Nairobi.
The area around and north of Nairobi is a riot of colors and lush greenery. At the very base of everything, though, is red ochre. It’s everywhere. It isn’t simply in the earth; it is the earth. It’s also the fine dust floating through the dry air, coloring the water during short and long rains, seeping into and clinging to everything. A reminder of our origins.
Psalm 103:13-14 (NRSV, slightly edited by me)
As parents have compassion for their children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear God.
For God knows how we were made;
And remembers that we are dust.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 15 August 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, September 1999, Ngini, Kenya
Dear Readers,
Yay! I’m still basking in the joy of having completed the write-up of our Courtship and Engagement! Here’s what I’ll be posting this coming week.
White and Female
Tomorrow, Sunday, I’m posting a piece I wrote several years ago about myself as a white woman. Issues of race and gender Read the rest of this entry »
This true story is at the end of Confessions of a Beginning Theologian. I referred to it in a recent post. Here’s more of the story, including the way it played out in my life a year later.
Several years ago I was in my car, on my way to the first day of spring semester classes. I felt shaky and uncertain. A year earlier, students had lodged serious complaints against me. They were reported to me anonymously at the end of the semester; several pages, single-spaced and typed. I was devastated. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s 1988–nearly 27 years ago.
I gave this at a seminary women’s dinner during Women’s History Week.
* * *
When I was growing up, I sought the approval of men.
I thought that if I did things just right,
They wouldn’t mind so much that I was born female.
They wouldn’t treat me the way they treated other women. Read the rest of this entry »
Nearly 30 years later, my heart still pounds loudly when I relive this event. It’s early fall 1985. I’ve been teaching theology to seminarians since fall 1983. I’ve agreed to make a presentation at an informal faculty gathering. Read the rest of this entry »
Telling the Truth 