Friday, January 6, 2012

On Hagar

So it's silent and I strain to hear God. I downloaded an app that breaks the Bible up into small chunks, to be read from beginning to end in one year. I'm not even a week in, but the task seems to be going ok, although I struggle. I struggle to hear God through a text that at times seems oppressive to me. Why would God favor Abram and Sarai, when they treat Hagar as less important, less fully human than themselves. What gives Sarai the right to "give" Hagar to her husband. How devestating it must have been to be forced into the slave owner's bed by his wife, forced to carry a child to further his legacy. It feels unjust and leaves me pondering the age old questions of why bad things happen, why are some people born in North America where their likelihood of living a decent life is dramatically higher than if they were born in poorer parts of the world. 

Why? Why slavery? Why the subjugation of women? Why covenants, savior for some people, but not all people? So many whys....

Because it's God's plan? Is God not the creator of all people? Are we not all his children? How is it right/fair that some are favored and some are not? Maybe I need to be clearer on how I define favored, because it's clearly not solely a material wealth thing, but still, its hard to imagine understanding God's favor from Hagar's position.

No comments: