on the way

NEW WOMAN – ME!  no 18

 

 

full of hope and trust
I am walking
through the days
of my time

not knowing
the distance
or the destiny
of my journey

strengthened by
God’s powerlessness
as the driving force
of my continuing
commitment

© Tina van Lieshout
translation John Wijngaards

Theological Note. When Tina talks about ‘God’s powerlessness’ she is referring to the insight of the Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen. This is what he taught: “We usually talk about God as the all-powerful, almighty God on whom we depend completely. But God wanted to become the all-powerless, all-vulnerable God who completely depends on us. Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel. The great mystery of God becoming human is God’s desire to be loved by us. By becoming a vulnerable child, completely dependent on human care, God wants to take away all distance between the human and the divine. By having become powerless God is closer than ever.”

MEDITATIONS

desert journey three selves in me me broken in pieces male and female my choice irrepressible thrust the money dragon and the religion dragon evolving identity women carry the church

the force of time I accuse women I accuse men my inner struggle past present future my dream and God saw that it was very good phallus worship on the way

Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person.  Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.