Today, as you may recall is the celebration of the Song of Kassiani. It is the night when women, no matter how fallen will make their way to churches to hear the story of a prostitute who found Christ told in song. As I write this, please understand that I do not view women as lower, worse, or needier than men. Rather, I see them as a unique creation of God and consider that all men have a responsibility to treat them with love, honor, and respect. If anything, it is men who fail to set an example of the nature of Christ in interacting with women. I, however, digress, it is women who are the focus of the Song of Kassiani. This is a beautiful thing and it makes me wonder.
It makes me wonder why we do not create an environment where the used and abused in our society do not feel always welcome. I do not wish to take anything away from this special night but I do wish for Christ followers to create an atmosphere of acceptance, love, and grace where anyone feels welcome.
The world rarely gives women the love, respect, and unique place that Christ showed them. It seems that acknowledgement of the sacred nature of their purpose as God created them is all but lost on the world. The fact that any woman ever has to sell herself is evidence that do not see the beauty and richness Christ intended for our understanding of this gender. The mere existence of human trafficking, primarily women is a blight on every soul that allows it to exist.
We have a responsibility to assure that when the song of Kassiani is sung each year that those who feel free to approach Christ find a welcome that reflects who Christ is and not some image of him cloaked in judgment and condemnation. Any woman who seeks Christ and his grace should be seen in the same light as we would wish to be seen. We must create a world where women need not fear abuse, judgment, or manipulation in order to give their hearts freely to Christ. Too much history tells us that men fail at this daily. Here are the words of Kassiani:
"Woe to me," she says, "for night
is a frenzy of license to me,
a dark, moonless love of sin.
"Receive the fountains of my tears,
O You who gather the sea-waters into clouds
Incline to the groanings of my heart,
O You who laid low the heavens by Your humility.
"I shall kiss Your immaculate feet,
wipe them again with the hair of my head,
those feet at whose sound Eve in Paradise hid for fear.
"The multitude of my sins, the depths of your judgments,
who can search them out, O Savior of souls?
Do not despise me, Your handmaiden,
O You whose mercy admits of no measure."
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment