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hannah anderson Profile picture
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10 May, 6 tweets, 1 min read
Since folks are talking about it...

Biological motherhood within the church =/= spiritual motherhood of & for the church.
Both are beautiful. Both are lifegiving. Both call us into a greater reality for purposes beyond our own self-fulfillment. But one cannot replace the other. And they are not necessarily dependent on each other.
A woman may be called to one or both & will exercise her calling out of deeper resources of faithfulness, service, & love for God & others. But while similar modes of being, biological motherhood & spiritual motherhood are distinct & cannot replace each other.
So it seems self-evident to me that regardless of how conservative a church may be, it must have spiritual mothers of & for the church in order to be a healthy spiritual family. The presence of biological mothers in the assembly are not enough.
And if that's true, then we'd also better figure out how to listen to & learn from our spiritual mothers:

"My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching." Proverbs 6:20
So by all means, work it out w/in your own ecclesiology & practice, but if your church doesn't have visible spiritual mothers who can speak into the life of the family of God & be heard... well, goodness I don't want to be around when you try to explain that to Him.

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More from @sometimesalight

hannah anderson Profile picture
11 May
Per previous thread about motherhood, work, & society:
You may rightly respond that fatherhood is also difficult & that men must make choices btwn work & family, too. I don't doubt this. The Q is about shape of society: does it support male embodiment or female embodiment?
Obviously, we are limited beings & we cannot do two things at once. Choice is inherent in this limitation. The Q is the difference btwn inherent choices & manufactured choices. To what degree does our society create *extra* conflict for women beyond that inherent in limitation?
To what degree does the shape of our society accomodate & support the inherent choices of male bodies while adding burden to the inherent choices of female bodies?
Read 5 tweets
hannah anderson Profile picture
11 May
The reactions to this piece from @ebruenig are something else. I also became a mother at 25 & while there have been many struggles along the way, I've never once thought they were the result of my children or my own fertility.
Given the nature of our work, our family often moves simultaneously in working class & professional class spaces. In the latter, I'm always among the youngest mothers. But in the former, my peers have adult children & may be grandmothers.
Don't underestimate how much of the rage at @ebruenig's piece is about class & economics & the failure to follow "the success sequence" which demands that you establish your career before having children.
Read 17 tweets
hannah anderson Profile picture
10 May
Addendum to last thread:

Those conservatives who are truly, convictionally, exegetically conservative irt to gender (& aren't just using the label for cover) are those who make every possible effort to hear women's voices & enable women's giftedness for the sake of the Kingdom.
Those who go out of their way to do the opposite are... something else.
At some point, labels & claims are meaningless. Instead, show me your actions. Show me how you have honored the Holy Spirit's work in & thru *all* God's sons & daughters. Show me how you've removed barriers & equipped them to run fast toward the work He's calling them to.
Read 4 tweets
hannah anderson Profile picture
8 May
Per previous thread about Mother's Day:

Some good comments on it about how the larger rhetoric around biological mothering affects one's ability to access & engage in Mother's Day celebration.
I think these fall under "how we celebrate" critique. ISTM that a church & culture built on personal experience will unintentionally personalize other features of worship & life. In such spaces, motherhood loses its power as a *category* & becomes a matter of personal identity.
So we often DO end up celebrating Mother's Day as a kind of personalized day which cuts out those who aren't mothers or who experience pain in this their personal experience of motherhood.
Read 8 tweets
hannah anderson Profile picture
8 May
The conversation about the role Mother's Day should play in a church's calendar is fascinating if only b/c it reveals what kind of Protestant you are.
I want to say this carefully & sincerely, knowing that there is a lot of pain associated w/ biological motherhood, but I really do think celebrating the categories of motherhood & fatherhood are pretty important in a culture that doesn't widely understand begottenness.
Beyond this, Protestants especially need reminders about the symbolism of motherhood & the way God used motherhood to bring redemption. Both literally thru Mary & metaphorically thru the church & our own new birth.
Read 7 tweets
hannah anderson Profile picture
30 Apr
Guys, this is worth your 1:48 if only to observe how some women respond when they feel uncomfortable. It may seem counterintuitive to men, but women often react to discomfort by becoming *more* polite & conciliatory. Don't read it as agreement.
The logic's simple: As a class, men outmatch women physically & in aggression. When men are in position of authority--whether by age or role--this affect is augmented. Direct confrontation is not an option for women so we must get out of uncomfortable situations thru other means.
Why point this out? If you're a man in leadership or just want to be a good friend or Xian brother to women in your life, recognize how a woman's response to the same situation could look completely different to yours. Read her actions as coming from a *woman* not as from a man.
Read 11 tweets

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