I did some writing today – not on my blog (though clearly, that’s what I’m doing now), but on Hagar. She’s one of my favorite scriptural narratives. Every time I read her texts (Genesis 16 and Genesis 21) I find something new that intrigues me and leaves me asking more questions about her – and certainly about the God with whom she interacts.
Today I didn’t get much past the part of the story where Sarai is complaining to Abram because now that Hagar is pregnant with his child (Sarai’s idea) she is somehow “showing contempt for her mistress.” Sarai plays the victim card while truly being the perpetrator. It’s so frustrating, maddening, and disappointing. I won’t go into all the detail of my writing or thought other than to say that it makes me sad that women (then and now) don’t get along better with one another.
I get it: one of them had power, the other did not. One was old, the other young. One was barren, the other fertile. On and on go the comparisons and our competitive natures. But why? Wouldn’t you think that as women we’d choose to genuinely care for one another, despite our differences; to honor what is distinct and amazing in each other vs. display jealousy or contempt? I’d love to think so, but history tells otherwise. Sarai and Hagar don’t have a unique story. It’s an early one, but repeated again and again.
I have some thoughts about why and “what now” but here’s where I’m landing tonight: God cares anyway.
When Hagar flees to the desert to escape Sarai’s abuse, God cares for her. When Sarai does not trust in God’s timing or promise, God cares for her. When I have fled and/or not trusted, God has still cared. Yes, I hope for new stories between women like Hagar and Sarai, for you and for me. And, in the midst, I am grateful for a God that has the willingness and capacity to keep interacting in the old story – one continually rife with failure, struggle, and humanity.
In his book, Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, Bruce Feiler says:
Sarah “afflicts” Hagar, the text says, using the same words later invoked to describe how the Israelites are treated by the pharaohs in Egypt, and Hagar responds the same way, by fleeing into the desert. The place Hagar goes – the wilderness of Shur – is the exact same place the Israelites go immediately after crossing the Red Sea. Again the Bible is sending a subtle message. All God’s children are afflicted in some way. And when they are, God looks after them.
Just like Hagar and Sarai, we are indeed, afflicted. We fail – ourselves, each other, and God. And God cares anyway. Amazing.
