Jesus knew he was going to Jerusalem and when. He was outspoken and prepared to engage with the political (v.32). But his compassion was still strong.
This week's news
A current editorial sees our present government as weak because not particularly bellicose: education reforms are reversed; a court ruling weakens welfare-to-work schemes ; there are divided opinions in the Cabinet.
Today the ability to ride roughshod over opposition is advanced as a strength, and conciliation and compromise, even perhaps generosity, represent failure.
In a number of current stories compassion and humanity seem to come into conflict with what is variously perceived as effective government, responsible budgeting, or animus against stigmatised minorities. Welfare changes have harsh impacts; and hospital closures for efficiency are claimed to threaten ‘nightmare’ for locals.
A ministerial attempt to restrict the Right to Family Life of certain foreign criminals or a desire to limit the benefit entitlements of EU citizens in the UK suggests unscrupulous populism to some.
Reflection
Here an unusually macho Jesus all but taunts the ‘fox’ (v.32) Herod, but also offers the rare feminised image of God, the mother-hen (v.34b), with which he, both fierce and compassionate, identifies. Does our world by contrast consistently reject feminised traits in leaders and devalue them in institutions? Is this behind the NHS care-scandals? Is an admired thirst for competitive advantage, for making efficiency savings and meeting targets, being set above compassion for suffering?
Jesus heads for the symbolic heart of the Jewish nation, a city with a love-hate relationship with God. God’s compassionate care yearning over Jerusalem stands in contrast to the brutality meted out to God’s more disruptive servants (v.34) by proud conformity-imposing civil authorities. Brutality anciently offered to the prophets is mirrored in the latent violence of the Jewish society Jesus knew under tough Roman occupation (31). Some of the most vulnerable in our society – the poor, the ill, the very old, the stranger – in these times of austerity face indifference and occasionally brutality in the name of civic or state efficiency. Could we be more compassionate at the heart of our national life without damaging the national interest?
A new National Curriculum for History is out and attracting a good deal of hostility from teachers and historians. British history seen as ‘great men and events’ allegedly replaces a much wider range: the removal of most world history, social history and women’s history is particularly regretted.
Jerusalem symbolically brings together the cultural, religious and political identity of the Jewish people. Can we produce a symbolic identity for our nation powerful enough to cement our cultural cohesion and energise a national sense of purpose without eliding one half of the population (the women) or devaluing the contributions of others (especially the once-colonised methnic minorities) sometimes characterised as ‘the feminised Other’?
Prayer
A preparatory meditation for human chicks of either gender
Hens are not exciting. But there is something about that ‘mother-hen’ image, warmth, softness, cuddly ampleness, especially in picture-books. A mother-bird with chicks will also rouse herself from her usual docility to drive off any creature that poses a threat. The fact that a hen is not an imposing bird like a hawk or a glamorous bird like a swan merely serves to emphasise her gallantry. And there’s something else. Proverbially mother-hens are readily persuaded to adopt other chicks and treat them as their own, even chicks of another species. When Jesus talked of God’s children, gathered under the divine wing, was that aspect of mother-hens included? I’d like to think so. God the mother-hen is all the things caring human mothers are, protective, supportive, sheltering, nurturing, loving, and then a bit more. God is inclusive. God doesn’t discriminate. God offers the same unconditional love to each and every one who owns up to being one of God’s chicks and takes shelter. It may seem humiliating to a proud, purposeful, ambitious human being to be so beholden. But if God can see the wonder of a plain, brown, mother-bird and identify with her, how can we refuse her protection? Let us give thanks for the more-than-motherly love of God.
Questions
Would a more ‘feminised’ society be a better one?
Can you make a list of traits you’d like to see in an ideal unisex human being?
Action
Fair Trade Fortnight begins tomorrow. Much of the development work done through organisations like Traidcraft is done by building family and community enterprises in which women have important roles. Support the enhancing of women’s lives this week!
Young People
What attributes are acceptable in men, and in women? Take a critical look at your own expectations of how each gender will behave. What do you think, for example, of the stereotypes in the Little Miss and Mister Men books?
Brenda Vance is a URC elder and retired University Teacher of English.
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