For several weeks I have been reflecting on the idea of authority and how that word impacts us. I am always struck by the use of the word in Mark’s Gospel passage because I find it offensive and counterintuitive as a term used for Jesus, yes, especially when in my favorite image of him he is holding a lamb, a person of deep compassion, of stalwart forgiveness, and of deep understanding of the cosmos as interdependent, not lording over anything, not asking for a hierarchical word such as ‘authority.’ I cringe when I hear it, and when I see it in print; my physical reaction mirrors my interior twisting and turning as anxiety builds against the myriad meanings and interpretations of this word and what it represents in its broadest oppressive, dominant context. Questions arise as the physicality of it enters my brain and the sound permeates me, such as, – ‘He spoke with authority’, or ‘Listen as I am the authority’, or I have the authority to make that decision’. How do we respond to those who presumably ‘have authority’? What does it mean to ‘have authority’ to those who have it and those who do not? What is our own sense of authority? DO we have it or do we not? If not, how do we get it? Do we want it, even? What does it really mean to have it anyway? Is it given to us by others or do we grasp at it for ourselves? Continue reading ““And one spoke with authority” Mt. 7:29 by Janice Poss”
Feminism and Religion 