Often people say that the Episcopal Church is boring because you say the same stuff every week. But here is what I offer you…re-reading and repeating can open up a new meaning even in things that you have said or heard hundreds of times. For example, today’s Genesis 2:4-25 reading. This section made me particularly interested: (I have bolded the sections that stand out for me)
“but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.”
A helper as his partner: Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh
The word partner is often used in Queer culture to denote the person someone is in a long term relationship with. It is especially effective because of its gender-neutralness. However, I offer that partner is far deeper than that. It denotes a sense of equality, a sense of both people holding equal weight in the journey of the couple. What if more straight people decided to use this term. What if at the end of a hetero-marriage ceremony the priest said, I now pronounce you partners in life. How differently might people approach this adventure? How differently might people think about their relationships. “The Man” in this tale is trying to do God’s will, but comes to realize that a partner in this project might actually be a benefit–going it alone is a bit overwhelming. While asleep God creates this gift from him…a rib…a piece of anatomy that wraps the side of one’s body. So we are connected, much like we are connected by Christ through our baptism (note bringing in yesterday’s sermon). So if you are in a relationship, maybe instead of insisting on words like girlfriend/boyfriend, fiancee whatever, use partner, it might make you look at that person on your side a bit differently.
the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed
In order to achieve true partnership, we must remain naked. The sin in eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge is that both the man and the woman realize that they are naked and become ashamed. If we look at Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability this line come to have a whole new meaning for me.
Recently, there has been this weight loss commercial on women saying how embarrassed they are to be naked in front of their partner person. Well, maybe they need to not be with that person. I was once told in a sex ed class, “if you can’t stand butt naked in front of your partner, with the lights on, then maybe you shouldn’t be having sex with that person.” This has resonated for me. To be naked in front of someone is to trust that they will accept you for your whole person, exactly the way you are at that exact time: Lumps, bumps, bruises, rolls, perky or droopy boobs, cut or flabby abs, pure perfection because of the imperfection. If we are ever to get to a place where we are having strong, loving partnership experiences, then we all need to get naked, not just in our our romantic relationships. Most important, we can’t be ashamed because we have bared it for the world to see.
Pursuing Call 