I wonder how many of us are nervous to speak of many subjects in case we are called out for the wrong terminology? I was sad to hear of a lady who had won a competition but was sidelined because she spoke of all lives mattering. On the basis that each of us is a child of God then each of us and therefore all of us matter whatever our ethnicity, gender, age, background, skills, likes and dislikes.
We will all have our views about history and how we should treat the past but surely whatever we think should be informed by considerable knowledge. I was intrigued recently to hear from a Kenyan lady about how her family had been affected by female genital mutilation. Her grandmother was a proponent on the basis it had always happened. The lady explained that her immediate family were spared but her cousins were subjected to what we consider an unacceptable practice. The reason for the difference was that the other family are Catholic and this lady’s family is Protestant. Not something I would have expected to hear. She explained the practice was introduced to Kenya by Massai tribesmen who travelled far to find good pasture for their animals. FGM was the way they chose to keep their womenfolk chaste in their absence. It seemed to me one could approach this from many angles but for each woman the situation might be different and what matters is that each of those women matters.
I’m reading ‘Gutsy Women’ by Hilary and Chelsea Clinton who have written brief cameos of many women from many backgrounds . Individuals who fought for female education, education for black wolmen, vaccination in countries where advocating it can lead to death, good medical and nursing care and much more. Their examples are from vagus generations . Amazing women with all sorts of personalities but every one achieving something very significant. Each one of their lives certainly mattered as well as each of the lives for whom they fought. Jesus would certainly have been there with each of them.
Jill Pipe