{"id":1417,"date":"2015-08-05T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T04:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:22","slug":"august-5-bent-double-and-quite-unable-to-stand-upright-luke-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/08\/05\/august-5-bent-double-and-quite-unable-to-stand-upright-luke-13\/","title":{"rendered":"August 5 – “bent double and quite unable to stand upright” Luke 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday August 5 \u00a0\u201cright behind the grill where, \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0she would block no one\u2019s view”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone this summer introduced me to the poet Irene Zimmerman, O.S.F. through her poem \u201cWoman Un-Bent,\u201d about a woman who could not stand up straight. \u00a0The un-named woman in Luke\u2019s gospel reminds me of a student from 30 + years ago in a course I taught, \u201cThe Politics and Ethics of Engineering.\u201d \u00a0There were 100 + students in the room. I made an issue of rewarding students who risked debating important matters, with one another and with me. \u00a0After the final class she came up with a sly look of triumph: \u00a0\u201cI did it! \u00a0I got through the whole semester without you calling on me even once.\u201d \u00a0She said she had perfected the art of easing her body slightly to hide behind other students without being too obvious about it. \u00a0It was, I agreed, quite an accomplishment.<\/p>\n

I hope that this student, these several decades later, has learned not to hide. \u00a0 That takes more than artful dodging, something more like courage and playful hope \u2014 like the un-named woman of Luke 13. \u00a0UDM freshmen will arrive for orientation week almost before we know it and this new season of mentoring will begin all over campus.<\/p>\n

Best to read the poem out loud, several times, with pauses. \u00a0Have a blest day.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post – Woman Un-Bent<\/p>\n

{based on \u00a0Luke 13:10-17}<\/p>\n

That Sabbath day as always
\nshe went to the synagogue
\nand took the place assigner her
\nright behind the grill where,
\nthe elders had concurred,
\nshe would block no one’s view,<\/p>\n

she would lean her heavy head,
\nand (though this was not said)
\nshe would give a good example
\nto those who stood behind her,<\/p>\n

That day, intent as always
\non the word (for eighteen years
\nshe’d listened thus), she heard
\nAuthority when Jesus spoke.<\/p>\n

Though long stripped
\nof forwardness,
\nshe came forward, nonetheless
\nwhen Jesus summoned her.<\/p>\n

“Woman, you are free
\nof your infirmity,” he said.<\/p>\n

The leader of the synagogue
\nworked himself into a sweat
\nas he tried to bend the Sabbath
\nand the woman back in place.<\/p>\n

But she stood up straight and let
\nGod’s glory touch her face.<\/p>\n

Irene Zimmerman<\/p>\n

\"IreneZimmerman\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday August 5 \u00a0\u201cright behind the grill where, \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0she would block no one\u2019s view” Someone this summer introduced me to the poet Irene Zimmerman, O.S.F. through her poem \u201cWoman Un-Bent,\u201d about a woman who could not stand … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1420,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions\/1420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}