“Spiritual Midwifery” – 8.23.26

8.23.26

1INTRO

You will not be surprised to hear that I have two meditations today, both of which I believe are vital for us at this moment in history. I’ve tried to weave them together seamlessly, but after looking through my notes, many of the seams are visible. I appreciate your long-suffering with me!

Our reading today comes from Exodus 1:8-17

8 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude 14 and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 

This is a fascinating story that deserves multiple interpretations, which is why I’m focusing on two major ones today. First, let’s examine the idea of mythmaking.

2MYTHMAKING

A number of scholars believe Genesis and Exodus are myths. For some Christians, that is very concerning! If those books aren’t true, then what does that mean about the rest of Scripture? This is why we get things like the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. This is why we have “Young Earth Creationism” that claims the planet is 6,000 years old. And this is why we had the Scopes Trial here in Tennessee.

There’s an important thing to note here. We often misunderstand what “myth” means. For many, a myth is a made-up story that has no factual truth. Consequently, anyone who says that Moses didn’t write the Torah, which includes a section about his own death, must be wrong because the Bible is not a myth.

But that is not the proper way to understand myth. In our modern, post-Enlightenment world, we have built a very dualistic system. We then read our perspective into the Bible, which is called anachronism, forcing scripture to conform to us. Thus, Genesis and Exodus become biblical science books that must be factual rather than myth. But myth is actually more true than facts, which is why myths are so powerful and important.

Just for a moment, let’s avoid the historicity of Exodus and simply look at the more than true aspects of the story – those parts that still speak to us today.

3NARROW

This story is full of mystical insights that are invaluable for our spiritual lives. In fact, early Christian theologians like Origen and Gregory of Nyssa understood the story this way.

We start by hearing that the people of Israel are trapped in Egypt, which in semitic languages means “a narrow place.” For both Origen and Gregory of Nyssa – and countless others since – the narrow place or “Egypt” represents the human experience.

Ever since my kids started playing soccer, I have been a volunteer referee – Heather has done a zillion things too! What I’m always amazed by is how much the fans, who are my peers – fellow parents – love to hate the referee. They will yell at me from the sideline, something like, “how can you miss that call?!?” I’ll typically go talk to them, explaining that I’m just some kids’ dad with a job and life who is volunteering. They will often ask how much it pays, which is odd since I already said the word volunteer, and when I say exactly $0, they are shocked. I then like to say that if they are upset at a call, they are allowed to volunteer, which has yet to work.

All that aside, I get frustrated that youth sports often try to force children to specialize in one sport and even one position from an early age. Who knows if they might develop into a different kind of athlete – let’s restrict them early, yay! Perhaps the most unfortunate part of the entire arrangement is that I’ve heard from several parents that their child is burned out from a particular sport, and their child is 8 years old. Burn out. 8 years old.

But that is how the world works – it forces us into narrow identities that are often arbitrarily constructed, causing us to remain in a dissatisfied state. If they can keep us there, then they know we’ll keep working and buying stuff to dull our discontentment.

Thus, we get pushed into narrower and narrower spaces, building stronger and stronger borders around our stuff, trying to feel something.

The Pharaoh orders all potential threats to his hegemony to be killed. Tyrannical leaders all know that without constant control, resistance will inevitably arise. But the midwives – those deep places within us all that are connected to the Divine, that is connected to true Being – refuse to destroy the Real within.

4WATER

Moses seems to represent our Divine spark, or what our Quaker friends might call our “Inner Light” or what our Buddhist friends might call “Buddha-nature.” Embedded in who we are is an awareness of More-ness, of Love, of Goodness.

Moses, whose name means “drawn out of the water,” is then floated safely on this world’s chaotic sea known as life. The symbolism appears to be tied to the notion of fluidity rather than rigidity. Authoritarians need rigid rules to maintain power whereas what is True, Holy, and Good moves like wind and water.

In the early Daoist text, the Daodejing, the author says that the strongest substance on earth is water. Unlike a sturdy piece of lumber that under enough stress completely snaps, water is undisturbed by pressure and change. Even when an enormous boulder is placed in its way, the water effortlessly flows through a different channel.

Egypt is this narrow place that represents containment and ego, but it also represents rigidity. The great empire of Egypt is inflexible. It has solidified. It is dry. And, consequently, it has tiny fissures and cracks throughout.

Regardless of how hard Egypt tries to patch these fractures, the water will get in. The water, even if it is only a slow drip right now, will ultimately erode the edifice of tyranny. This is true in our own lives and in the life of all things.

The spark is within us all – and we are invited to draw it out. May tyranny, both within us and in the world, erode into peace and Love.

5TODAY

This story, of course, is not unique to the people of Israel’s exodus from Egypt; in fact, the Exodus story, whether historically “true” or not, has brought hope to oppressed people throughout time. During the civil rights movement, for instance, Black Liberation Theologians like Cornel West and Delores Williams saw their own history and story within Exodus, recognizing that God’s promise of freedom for the captives was not restricted to the people of Israel in Egypt. Rather, liberation from all that constrains is the entire message of the Bible.

We find ourselves today in this Exodus story. When I read this passage the other day, I was struck by how similar our current situation is. I find it remarkable how often we Christians, especially white U.S. Christians, read ourselves into the biblical narratives, viewing ourselves as both the heroes and the victims. For our purposes, we lament how we are oppressed. Indeed, that’s how many Christians read this story. They are the victim of “woke” theology and DEI, which erodes their hard-fought authority as THE arbiters of truth and holiness. 

Woe is me, oh God, that I might have to use a different pronoun for someone or help my immigrant neighbors! How long must we suffer in this Egyptian desert of oppression! It’s been days and days of extremely minor discomfort!

Bad news, friends. If you are a white Christian, we are Egypt. We are the oppressors. We founded this country through Christian oppression, and we rule today in the same manner. Let’s listen more closely to the beginning of Exodus, which is the very story we find ourselves in:

Exodus 1:8-17, mildly revised:

Now, an old but newly recharged political movement sparked by a racist leader rose to power, forgetting its country’s history. The devious donors, superPACs, and political opportunists said to one another, “Look, the Black and immigrant populations, including refugees, are becoming too numerous, able to disrupt our political stranglehold. Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of social unrest, they might side with other politicians and activists.” Therefore, they placed ICE and other violent taskmasters over them to oppress them with false imprisonment and unjust deportation. They did this in cities built by enslaved people who continue to be silenced and harassed. Nevertheless, these oppressed people persisted, causing white supremacists to dread them. In an effort to destroy their will, the supremacists went further in Tennessee, integrating ICE into local law enforcement and removing all immigrants from healthcare resources. The president and his sycophants told the doctors and midwifes to refuse care to pregnant women, saying on the national executive branch website, “Failure to appropriately combat these [birth tourism] schemes has resulted in thriving industries around the world that profit by enabling the evasion of American immigration laws to obtain citizenship and other immigration benefits for foreign visitors, and the exploitation of the women who travel here for purposes of giving birth.” They champion combating these “schemes” by refusing life-saving care, condemning women and babies to death. BUT the midwives, those who refused to leave their calling to Love and care for all, revered God; they did not do as the supremacists said.

Thankfully, this church has joined with many other Christians that are serving as activists and midwives, refusing to be swayed by the lure of power. Nevertheless, we must persist. Now is the time to act.

Just this past week, Boo, Jim, and I were in a meeting with a group called the Multi-Faith Leaders of East Tennessee, which this church helps lead. We heard from our colleagues at organizations like Knoxville International Network, Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors, and Bridge Refugees who shared about the dire circumstances of our immigrant friends and neighbors.

Tennessee has become the poster child for abusive policies and laws around immigration. Our lawmakers, most of whom claim Christianity, have forfeited their morals for supremacy, ignoring the very message of Jesus. Our state has arrested thousands of immigrants, and between 80-90% of those detained are held in private Immigration Detention Centers, which receive multi-billion dollar federal funding, drastically expanding this country’s imprisonment “industry.” The U.S.’s two major incarceration companies reported profit – PROFIT – of $250mil last year, a 700% increase from the year before. And these companies spend millions each year lobbying politicians, securing lucrative contracts, especially with ICE. Unsurprisingly, both companies maxed out their donor contributions to the current administration last election, and our current national leader has made at least 29 trades of these private prison stocks. So, is this a safety issue or a money issue?

And here we are. A small group being called to act. The organizations I mentioned and several more need volunteers to help with basic healthcare and general support. I’ll get everyone that information, but the time is now.

The midwives revered God and, thus, did not follow Pharaoh’s order. We are being called to this kind of spiritual midwifery. We are being called to care for others despite our laws. We are being called to Love – come what may.

So, may we revere God more than ease and “safety,” and may we help birth change in ourselves, in our city, and in the world. Amen.