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Rector's Reflection—24 Pentecost, Proper 28
November 15, 2009
Today we meet Elkanah, Peninnah, and Hannah (a name that is not only a palindrome, but is also a whole lot easier to pronounce than the other two). Peninnah and Hannah were Elkanah's wives but only Peninnah had borne any children for him... a fact that she would not let Hannah forget. Year after year Hannah was besieged by endless "nyeh, nyeh, nyehs" from Peninnah. The more Hannah asked the Lord for children, the more her wife-in-law made fun of her. One day, Hannah had had it. She burst into tears—or as John Bear would say, "she went to cryin'."
Elkanah had a not uncommon reaction to Hannah's bawling. In an attempt to make her feel better (and make her stop crying, please), he wavered somewhere between being sympathetic and dismissive. He asked, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
Um... Elkanah, it's not really about you. His questions were clumsy at best, and hurtful at worst. Even if he meant no harm, he lapsed into that well-meaning but less-than-helpful approach so often taken with grieving people—"just be happy with what you have."
Hannah was not consoled. She went to the temple, as she had done so many times before, to ask yet again for the Lord to bless her with children. Turning persistence into a spiritual discipline, she blew right past Eli who was seated in the doorway and went straight to the top. Rather than have her prayer mediated through a priest, Hannah bargained directly with God, "O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head."
We are told that Hannah was praying silently, and since her lips were moving but there was no sound, Eli assumed that she was drunk (huh?), which led to yet another clumsy question posed to poor Hannah, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine."
Now it's possible to read Hannah's response as a meek and apologetic reply to Eli (stage direction: look down toward the floor and speak with a soft voice). "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled... Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman..." But I think it's just the opposite, because Hannah had nothing to lose. With hands on hips and looking Eli right in the eye, Hannah said "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled... Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman..." (I think this because Eli immediately changed his tune from assuming she was a drunk to telling her to go in peace!) Well, the story ends happily. Hannah eventually had a son (I am sure much to Peninnah's chagrin) whom she named Samuel.
The Hannah/Samuel story is a great story all by itself, but I cannot help but note the parallels with another mother/son story that we will soon hear. With Advent fast approaching, we will learn about a young, unmarried girl named Mary who becomes a mother. As Hannah gave birth to a son who would grow up to anoint kings, Mary will give birth to a son who will be the anointed one... the King of kings. And both events were possible only because of the extraordinary faith of two women.
Susan+
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