You Live. You Learn.

You Live. You Learn. ~~Alanis Morrisette

My husband saw that Alanis Morrissette was coming to a concert venue near us and announced he was getting tickets. “She’s a beast,” he pronounced. Immediately I corrected him, “She’s spiritual,” I insisted.

I love that my husband appreciates strong, sensitive, talented women. But I wanted him to see it my way; that Alanis writes and performs from a deep knowing, a wisdom that comes from a higher source. He maintains that she is a sexy, strong, badass woman with an incredible voice and ability to write and translate into performance songs that relate to so much of our human condition. “She’s a beast.”

Do you think spiritual and "beast" or “badass” are mutually exclusive?

I'm not so sure.

During Covid, I went back to school to work on a Masters of Divinity, MDiv for short...after forty years. I graduated (with my husband) from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel, in 1981. In ’81 we typed our papers on manual typewriters. We used white-out if we made an error. We didn’t cut and paste, we rewrote. There was no spell check or Grammarly or applications for citations or bibliographies. It’s quite astounding, the technology that's available for learning these days.

One thing hasn’t changed. As the badass Alanis sings, we often learn best from our mistakes, our failures, our challenges.

For example, in my first semester, I took Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. That’s the Old Testament. You know, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, etc. The professor is tough. For our final project, we were to create a Bible Study based on what we had learned about the Hebrew Scriptures. Because I teach yoga and meditation, I and my study partner decided to turn the Bible Study into a retreat for the congregation. I wanted participants to appreciate the beauty of the psalms and the more healing passages from beautiful poetic books like Isaiah during a year when we could all use some peace. The Zoom retreat went well. I threw in some self-care tips and guided meditations and we enjoyed one another’s company in community as we mined the Hebrew Scriptures for wisdom during a strange and stressful Advent season.

At the end of it, I proudly turned in my paper that described my successful Bible Study. I was certain I would get an A. When it came time for my grade, my professor took points off. What? My professor is a badass too. He knows his Isaiah. This is what he wrote in response:

"I think the topic of exile is very pertinent during this time. It seems the book of Isaiah gave you the images and inspiration to build community and explore the topic of resiliency. 
I left wanting to see how you addressed the issue of punishment in the book of Isaiah and how your group would tackle this point that frames the theme of resilience. I did not see it in your narrative. I understand the liturgical season we are in, but your work keeps the boundaries of the tradition in the lectionary and does not offer your group an opportunity to discuss them in the theological framework of punishment and redemption. What to do with that framework during this season? How to struggle with the theme of exile and pandemic in the same framework?"

I recommend biting off more than you can chew. To anyone.

Did he mean to suggest that this pandemic was a punishment? Certainly not. Where is our redemption after all of this?

I let it go and moved on to Intro to the New Testament for the Spring semester. You know, Matthew Mark, Luke, John, etc. It was in the study of the Gospel of Luke that I came upon a passage where Jesus was reading from the Prophet Isaiah. Here is the passage from Luke 4:18-19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind

        to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Insert Massive “Aha” moment…

Jesus is reading to the people from Isaiah 61. Here’s more of the original passage:

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, 

to bind the brokenhearted 

to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, 

and the day of vengeance of our God; 

to comfort all who mourn"

   

Jesus changed it up! Five or six hundred years later, he brought out the ancient scroll to comfort his followers. He used familiar words. He didn't want to stress them out, even more, just to offer a different way of hearing. He didn’t tell the suffering people under Roman occupation that God’s vengeance was at hand. Isaiah 61 was written to a people in exile. Their land had been taken from them. Jesus was speaking to a people whose freedoms had also been taken away. Sound familiar at all? He just couldn’t bring himself to talk about a God of vengeance. I get it. Thank you, Jesus! You get me.

Wait until the dust settles...

Here’s the thing, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon that passage with any significant appreciation had my professor not challenged me. (I still got an A in the class btw!)

That’s just one interpretation of many more. That's why we hear that the scriptures are living words. They apply to us at every stage of our lives, to each of us differently. You say Alanis is a badass. I say she’s spiritual. We're allowed to agree to disagree. It’s all good. It’s all God.

Yes, I am going back to school. But everyday living is learning. 

We just have to keep our eyes and ears and hearts open. 

I cannot wait to see Alanis in concert. Thanks for getting us tickets, honey.
I am grateful for this recent version of Jagged Little Pill...

Namaste,
Connie