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    Aug 23, 2015

    Sunday's Message: Eve and Company - The Poetry of Joy Mead

    Sunday's Message: Eve and Company - The Poetry of Joy Mead

    Passage: Genesis 3:1-7

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Women in the Bible

    Category: Women

    Vivian:       Good morning and welcome to this live, Sunday morning taping of The Pastor’s Corner Show on WWJD – the station where we always consider the question, “What would Jesus do?”  Today it is my pleasure to welcome to our studio all of you who seek to be more like Jesus and to welcome my guest, Deborah Grubb-Wheeler who has recently reviewed the book, A Telling Place by Joy Mead. 

    Deb:           Thank you, Vivian.  It is a pleasure to be on your show today!

    Vivian:        Deb, I have been reading both the book and your review over the last several weeks and found both to be very interesting.  I had not read poetry like this before, and I found it inspiring, enlightening and disturbing, all at the same time.  Those biblical women did not have an easy time of it!

    So, let’s just dive right in and talk about your review and some of the material in the book.

    What do you know about the author of A Telling Place?

    Deb:           Joy Mead is a member of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community committed to rebuilding the sense of community, and maintaining the integrity of creation.  Joy says that women’s stories and the telling of them reveal a connection in all existence.

    Joy has authored several books – but this book is her latest one in which she presents a unique viewpoint. She reflects on the Bible stories from the woman’s perspective. She imagines these women as central to their own stories rather than a brief mention, an aside if you will, in the all too familiar narrative that we are used to reading, one that has been written and interpreted by men for centuries.  Joy wants us to realize that these women are not bit players, but are vital contributors in the building of God’s kingdom.  But more importantly I think her poems offer us an alternative way of thinking, of being, and seeing. If one would just take the time to delve into this book, I believe each reader would take away a new inspiration of hope for the world. Joy’s poetry, stories, and brief reflections fill the pages of her book with anticipation and promise for a world that reflects the ideals of the Iona Community, a world where peace and justice reign and all people are valued and come together as one.

    She and I both grew up in the second half of the 20th century – I can identify with her. We share a common thread of a changing world and living through a time when women found their voices in society and particularly in the world of theology and Christian faith. She is expressing her belief but as a human being and a person of faith not specifically as a woman so let me once again emphasize that her poetry does not speak only to women- or about women’s issues but it communicates about how everything in God’s world is connected. These stories depict how both genders are interrelated at the heart of life itself.

    Vivian:        There is a series of 3 poems in the book about Eve and the Garden.  Joy seems to have had some very interesting insights about the First Garden and today’s Eves, especially as expressed in the first poem, Eve in a Community Garden.  Would you read that poem?

    Deb:           Read Eve in a Community Garden.

    Vivian:        Your review of this poem called it “a refreshing twist on an old, old story.”  What did you mean by that?

    Deb:           Traditionally we have seen this story as one dimensional at least that is how I have understood it. God said thou shall not and Eve disobeyed. The beginning of our troubles and it was Eve’s fault.  But let’s look at it another way – Eve was not defeated or hemmed in by the world that met her - she dreamed of all the possibilities the world had to offer and she was tough enough to challenge conformity.

    Joy states that her poetry has no beginning nor a conclusion as hers is not a book of certainties or of answers but rather that of explorations and questions. She is hoping to make us all realize that we do have choices. She wants us to pay attention to the world around us and the people we interact with and above all she wants us to be aware of all of the different layers of life – so we indeed can discover what it is to be human. 

    Listen again to this part of the poem:

    “Adaptable as dandelions undefeated by broken streets, and city waste lands” The world is multi-dimensional, not flat, and the Eves of today as well as the Eve at the beginning of time are resilient and spirited.

    This poem is attentive to colorful imageries having us reflect on the exquisiteness of the earth and all that we have to behold and be thankful for. Yet it also reminds us of growth and progress in our communities and the world as we celebrate life and all it has to offer in its richness! It is a celebration of life and all of the beauty that life has to offer.

    Again let me quote: “beneath an apple tree long retired-recovered soil is rich with unexpected seeds tough enough to challenge conformity and celebrate a random paradise”

    So much for the thou shall nots – it’s a What shall! Eve was a remarkable First Lady and an example for us all!

    Vivian:        I love that line, “today’s Eves come in jeans and tee-shirts, looking for a wall-less room of their own, encouraged by dreams…” 

    Deb:           This phrase implies a seeking of freedom. Scripture is not specific but it is implied that the garden is a contained area with barriers, with obstacles, even the tree of knowledge was a blockade. But Eve participates as if there are no boundaries. She is willing to bravely seek a new dimension - to forge ahead into a boundless future.

    Eve’s story is a story about struggle, maturity, and hope.  Eve’s poem is about being alive – about experiencing God’s gifts and His abundance- that of the world’s fruitfulness and its splendor – the magnificence of it all as well as knowing that a woman is more than a product of creation.  She has been created in the image of God and she will flourish and bloom even more so than the apples – she will provide for future generations who will also behold the beauty of the earth, experience the joys and sorrows, the bliss and burdens, the highs and lows of existence and devour the apples of life.  After all, that was God’s plan.  This then can lead to a reawakened passion to humbly care for one another and help rebuild lives.

    Women have the capacity to look beyond of what is and what should be to what could be.  So here we are today, interconnected with all that encompasses our human existence which of course includes our sinfulness. And still God’s love reigns and we are still assured redemption. It all began with Eve. God’s promise is beautiful.

    Vivian:        The second of the poems, Apple Life, is a testament to the beautiful cycle of life.  The last sentence reads, “She sees the fruit fall, and rot, the ripe seed die in the ground so that tomorrow the air may be filled with the heady scent of apple blossom.”  Wow!  This poet is celebrating the beauty of God’s circle of creation rather than dwelling on the long-held interpretation of Eve bringing sin into the world.  It’s as though the knowledge that Eve gains is to recognize the beauty of God’s design for creation.

    Deb:           Yes.  You know, Vivian, as a woman, I really resonate with that approach.  Joy is celebrating the creativity and wisdom of women, looking at the story with new eyes.  That is one of the things that drew me to this book.  May I read the poem for your listeners? 

                       (READ THE POEM)

    Vivian:        I think the third “Eve” poem in A Telling Place is my favorite in the whole book.  In Knowledge – of what exactly, the author points out the horrific sin that happened outside the Garden – calling to mind the story of Cain and Abel.

    Deb:           Yes, she does.  You know Vivian, What Joy is getting at here is contrasting the mere eating of an apple vs. the sin of murder.  Yes, Eve sinned – she did indeed eat that apple but was that as severe as murder? So as I read this poem, listen carefully and see what you think:      (read Knowledge of what exactly?)

    Vivian:        Well, that’s all the time we have for our show today.  Tune in again on September 6 when we will discuss another poem from this collection, a reflection on the healing of Jairus’ daughter.

    Thank you, Deborah Grubb-Wheeler, for sharing your insights and appreciation for both the poems of Joy Mead and the women of the Bible.  The book is entitled A Telling Place and will available by September 15 in the Rachel Bruehl Memorial Library.  And thanks to our guests assembled at Reisterstown UMC for this live taping of our show on WWJD – the station that asks the most important question, What Would Jesus Do?