If Granny can do it so can you!
Grannies are Coming to TownTune: Santa Claus is comin’ to town
Oh, you better watch out, you better go hide Stay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to TownAnd right on their heels, the National GuardThey heard us say, "we hate Election Fraud"The Grannies are Coming to Town
Old ladies in big dresses, big hats and lacey shawlsThere surely must be danger, in their purple parasols
Oh you better watch out, you better go hideStay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to town!
The grannies are coming to town. The raging grannies that is. Every since 1997 the grannies have been gathering all over Canada and the United States. They protest, they sing, they act out, they knit, they do whatever they can to bring situations of injustice to the attention of whomever is able to listen. In order to be a raging granny – you have to be between the age of 52 and 67.
Rose Deshaw, a Raging Granny from Canada describes the philosophy of the group as always nonviolent. They call attention to evil by singing songs that all can relate to. I thought this one was kind of fun…….
Are You Voting?
(tune- Frere Jacque) Are you voting? Are you voting? You and me? (point to another RG & to self)You and you? (point to audience) Schools, jobs, healthcare. Hunger and environment. Read. Think. Vote! Read. Think. Vote!!
Rose goes on to say, “we are spreading green branches of a great tree.- for those who come behind us. Grannying is the least understood yet most powerful response that we have to the evil of the world. The raging grannies phenomena started when some older women discovered that a UN ship was coming to their town, which had a nuclear reactor on board. They were concerned that there was no emergency plan for the community if something was to go wrong. So, they went to the local mall, dressed in big hats and aprons, and bought turkey baisters to test the surrounding water to see if it was contaminated. It got the attention of the public, and the issue was addressed by local officials. Every since then, grannies have been gathering in granny gaggles – discuss the issues and to protest in the most effective ways.
I liked Rose Deshaw’s comment that grannying is the least understood, but most yet most powerful method that we have of addressing evils of the world. Even she says that it is effective, because no one expect granny’s to have an opinion, to know what it going on in the world – much less to have a voice to express injustice.
And yet it really has been our grannies who have cared the most about the conditions of the world and who have the wisdom to address it.
I have a feeling that Jesus must have had great respect for the power of raging grannies too. When everyone else is coming to give their offerings to the treasury – Jesus comments on the lady who gave all that she had – a mite – hoping that it would make a difference.
Jesus also speaks of the widow who comes to the judge to ask for justice over and over again. Scripture says that she was a widow – but we don’t really know her age of circumstance. But in our minds – we do think of her as an older woman – someone who had no other means of taking care of herself but to depend on the kindness of others. In that society, she could have been twelve- and if she was a widow with no children she would still have to beg for a living. But in our minds eye – I think that we all imagine this woman as a raging granny – someone with the wisdom and the fortitude to stand up for her rights.
The bible takes a very disturbing situation and puts a little humor in the story. Scriptures says that this was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect of another person. As a public servants – judges were expected to be intentional to watch out for and to care for widows. In Hebrew the word widow meant silent one or one unable to speak. A woman’s identity was totally tied up in the men in her life. Even the new testament says that a woman was not supposed to speak in public – if you have a question you were supposed to save it and ask your husband at home. If you had no husband – then you had absolutely no voice to speak about anything.
Jesus has a particular concern for the widows of society. He speaks a lot of being intentional to care for the widows – because they had no other means of support. The entire missionary focus of the early church was support of the widows. Paul wrote his letters to the churches in the new testament – all because he was collecting money to support the widows in Jerusalem. Any self respecting public servant would know that they had a responsibility to help a widow. And yet this judge was determined not to help a widow in need. He eventually granted her justice, so that she would not wear him out by continually coming. The humor is that is that the greek term used means to give someone a black eye. Her constant nagging for justice would badger him to the point of physically wounding him. I think that qualifies as a raging granny act. Afterall, her demands really were nonviolent.
And yet – when I think of this story I have to ask myself – where is God in this story – is God the nagging widow or the unconcerned judge. And who am I supposed to be in the story – the one who must constantly ask for justice or the one who has been entrusted with the responsibility to help others, yet chooses to have no respect for anyone else but myself?
I think that finding God in the story is a little easier to see. This is known as an if/ then story. Jesus uses this a lot in his storytelling. If a public servant who has admitted to not caring about people can grant a defenseless widow justice, then surely a God who is always just, who always cares, who is always on the side of he defenseless will grant us justice if we ask. We don’t have to give God a black eye to get God’s attention or to get God to grant us justice. God will always give us justice – which is not the same as giving you anything that you want when you want it. Justice is the love, care compassion and grace that is your birthright as a child of God – but that the world is not always so willing to let you have access to. The moral of the story is that God always hears your cries and will always give you an answer.
But what about you – where are you in the story of the widow and the judge. Are you the one in need of justice – or the one who needs to learn to give it. I think that there is a part of both characters in all of us. Jesus is telling us this story because this is a time in our lives when we need to speak up – but we also need to learn to listen compassionately.
Not all of us are poor and defenseless. Even women today not only have a voice to address injustice, they also have the power to change things. But in the eyes of God we are all poor and defenseless. There are areas in all of our lives which we have no control – and all that we can do is to appeal to God and hope that God really cares. That is the point of prayer – turning our lives over to God and humbly waiting for an answer.
But we have to be careful because the careless judge is also a part of us. We are called to be the answer to the prayers of others. Are we truly listening to their cries. When we are given power – do we use it to help others – or to save our own reputation. God is crying out to us to build God’s kingdom – are we truly listening to those cries? Prayer is the ability to be honest with yourself and generous with others. As the children of God – as the church we are called to be in constant prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom. A place where even the most voiceless of persons are heard and the most vulnerable of people are able to live a productive life.
I wanted to share with you another song of the raging grannies – It struck me as addressing a poignant issue of our time.
Just Say NO to War
One little two little three little soldiersMarched off to war and never got olderIt makes us sad and it makes us bolderJust say NO to war!
One billion, two billion, three billion dollars, Wasted on war if we don’t holler,You can go but we won’t follow !Just say NO to war!
Their kids, my kids, your kids too,Facing death - it’s up to you !Here’s what we all need to do -Just say NO to war!
I don’t feel that it is important to address what people think or don’t think of the present war. But to think about the value of life. To think about our place in it – to think of the need for us to constantly cry out for justice, to think about the part that we all play in injustice. And to remember to power of prayer, specifically of our prayers to make a difference. Amen.
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