I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks looking at this photo:
It was painted by a nun in the early 2000s. It features Ms. Eve, after she has been betrayed and left to fend for herself by Adam (read Genesis 3 - he was there the whole time and said nothing!), standing with Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus. Along Eve’s leg is a serpent (Satan) whose head is being crushed under Mary’s heel in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 where it says, “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” It’s in reference to Jesus coming to overcome the sin and pain Satan just introduced to the world.
Satan wins for the moment but the ultimate victory is coming.
There is a lot I could say about Roe being overturned. I am sad. Heartbroken. Pissed off. A lot of the emotion I have processed has been better articulated by others.
I have tried to logic my way to be a better response. I’ve thrown up my hands in apathy. I have cried, vented, gone for many walks, and tried to avoid the emotion.
But I keep coming back to this image. Sweet Eve who knows the pain and loss and hurt she unknowingly released - the need she created for Eve to be where she is. And Eve, wise beyond her years (she was probably only a teenager) when faced when the choice to carry a baby out of wedlock said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38). She did not know what was to come but knew she’d been given the chance to do the impossible.
I’ve thought about writing a post about Mary’s agency. God did not force her to carry and deliver Jesus but gave her a choice and should that not be an example for us in these times? But instead, I choose to take a step back and realize the decision to take agency away from women and force them to carry fetuses they do not want - is bigger than one decision in one country. It is the latest in a litany of offenses against women that started with one man’s decision to blame his helpmeet (vs. defend or intervene). That cowardice and yet control continues with four men’s hypocritical decision to impact the lives of thousands of women they will never meet and don’t care about.
Am I angry? Sure. I’m hella p****ed off. But anger alone does nothing.
So I look at sweet Eve and wise Mary and choose hope. Both lived through pain we cannot imagine and yet knew (I believe) they were part of something bigger - something that runs through this moment as well: hope.