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What’s Amazing about the Annunciation!
Trigger warning: sexual assault How we experience life embodied as sexed beings affects how we read the biblical text. So how do many women do so? We do so as those who have (a) been violated ourselves or (b) as those who live in close proximity with someone who is a survivor of such violation. According to RAINN, one out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Contrast this with the one in 33 American men who have been victims of attempted or completed rape. Women are raped more than five times as often as men. And neither of these statistics…
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Do Not Be Afraid, I Am With You
Since my word for the year 2023 is “with,” I’m sharing a chapter entitled “With You” from my devotional Favored Blessed Pierced: A Fresh Look at Mary of Nazareth in preparation for the upcoming Advent season. So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid.” Luke 1:30a The angel’s preface to his commissioning, “Do not be afraid,” is the most commonly repeated command in the Bible—with good reason, for we are people of fear. Last year, I finally admitted that I feel anxious when I travel. While I have the privilege of traversing the globe in my ministry to cross-cultural workers, I rarely travel alone. Still I worry. Will we make…