Witness

Leymah Gbowee, speaking at the TED Talk.
Photo from ted.com

Recently, I watched this TED Talk by one of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Leymah Gbowee. She spoke of her work with poor girls in Africa and explained, “we go into rural communities, and all we do — like has been done in this room [at TED] — is create the space. When these girls sit, you unlock intelligence, you unlock passion, you unlock commitment, you unlock focus, you unlock great leaders.” In development circles, current research indicates that in the developing world, when family resources and income are in the hands of men, much of it is spent on entertainment. When resources and income are in the hands of women on the other hand, it tends to be invested in children’s education, in businesses, and in the community. So, investing in women tends to raise health, education, and quality of life outcomes for poor communities as a whole, especially for children. Leymah Gbowee demonstrated the power of educating and empowering women when she organized Christian and Muslim women in her native Liberia, to eventually oust the brutal President, Charles Taylor, who is now awaiting trial at the Hague for crimes against humanity. Liberia then elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is Africa’s first female head of state.

Gbowee’s example reminds me of Mary Magdalene, and the women who first encountered the empty tomb on Easter morning. These women were chosen as the first witnesses to the resurrection, the greatest and most significant event in the history of humanity. Like Leymah Gbowee, these women witnessed something profound. And also like Gbowee, they were transformed by their witness. It is not enough to witness something profound if we are not transformed by it. When we witness something, be it wondrous joy or unspeakable horror, we have two options. We can either ignore it and pass by on the other side of the road, or we can engage with it, wrestle with it and discover the implications for our lives. In short, we can choose to be transformed by the events we witness. Every experience has the power to shape us. Profound experiences have the power to change everything. Who we are. What we do. What and who we love and are passionate about. They can color the fabric of our lives and shape the course of human history.

Many women today are called to profound witness. Women tend to be ideally situated to witness to the profound experiences of everyday life. Like Mary Magdalene, the traditional work of women keeps them near the chores and responsibilities that come with running a family. Of course it was the women who went to the tomb to tend Jesus’ body, that was their role. They are the caregivers. They care for the children, the sick, the elderly and the dead. It is from these positions that women are ideally positioned to be witnesses. As a mother, Leymah Gbowee experienced how hard it was to find enough food for her children, and watched other mothers struggle to do the same. She witnessed all mothers struggling to put their children through school and to keep them there, especially the young girls, who were often pulled from school to help at home, or married young. Women have always been great witnesses. And some women, when they witness these things, they are transformed. They let their experiences, good and bad, shape their lives. And they effect change. They become channels of great strength, changing the people, institutions and world around them.

These women are often unknown, working in this corner or that. But they minister where they are needed, shaped by their work in the muck and grit of everyday life. They are mothers, chanting the universal cry of motherhood; that my children might have what they need, have limitless opportunities, and a better life. They latch on to the hope that by striving with every ounce of energy for their children, together with the energy of other mothers, they might someday change the world. I know my own mother is one of these women. Everything she does is for her four children. She is a person of self-sacrifice and a woman of great faith inherited from her mother. Through her, I first experienced God’s love. And in her, I found an example of how to stand for justice, of how to have hope for the world, and of how I am responsible to lift up the world around me.

I have also encountered this in the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. They have very humble roots, beginning in France, and journeying across the Atlantic to America to teach French-speaking girls, in what is now the Youngstown, Ohio area. From there, they built lives and a community, coaxing life and sustenance from the swamp land they were given, land which many others had written off as incapable of yielding enough food to survive. The sisters continued to build and grow, emulating the humble “yes” of the servant Mary wherever they found themselves, primarily in the traditional professions for women religious of teaching and nursing. From there, they have expanded, and currently witness in a variety of ministries, continuing to teach and provide healthcare, but also ministering to and advocating for refugees, immigrants, farm workers, the poor, the imprisoned, young adults and victims of human trafficking. From Northeast Ohio, down to Florida and Haiti they continue to witness, often in obscurity. And as they witness, in the humble tradition of Mary, they are transformed. And through their transformations, they effect change.

And so as someone who has grown up, surrounded by these witnesses, I have two options. I can either notice and acknowledge their witness, but walk by on the other side of the road, unchanged. Or, I can engage with it, and risk being transformed. For once I am transformed, I will have no choice but to continue their work. To continue their witness to the world around me. To preach the Gospel of love, especially when it is difficult. To stand for justice and to raise up the lowly. And to create space for more girls to sit, and thereby unlock intelligence, passion, and great leaders. To create space for the next generation of witnesses to notice, be transformed, and then transform the world around them.


-J.P.