For the About the Story activity on the story of Sarah’s Laughter (Gen. 18:9-15) I decided to focus on the word “lord.” It was challenging to sort out and clarify the various uses of “lord” and issues related to translation. There is “the LORD” and then there is “my lord.” There is adonai, elohim, Yahweh, and Jehovah. And then there is that mouthful of a word, tetragrammaton. I ran short of time in class and almost skipped this segment, thinking it was too esoteric for these women, not all that confident I understood it myself, and figuring they wouldn’t be interested anyway.

But I had printed the tetragrammaton in large Hebrew script on card stock. I had lugged a Hebrew Bible along with all my other materials.  I didn’t want to waste all that effort! So I attempted a quick oral explanation, handed out About the Story, displayed the Hebrew Bible, and showed the graphic of the tetragrammaton.

To my surprise the women were very interested. A older woman who clearly struggled with English literacy was fascinated and copied the tetragrammaton onto her story paper. I never cease to be amazed at the things that happen in Circle of the Word.

“The Bible calls us to hope—to persevere and have faith in things not seen.”

When I heard this opening statement of President Obama’s eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pickney I immediately thought of our circle of women in the jail. I share this understanding of the biblical witness, which is why I developed and lead Circle of the Word. It’s a witness strongly evident in the stories we are learning this summer about the promise of a son to an elderly couple and the promise of life for the son of a desperate slave girl.

The story last Wednesday in the jail Circle was about Hagar’s wilderness experience and the birth of Ishmael. The Circlekeeper opened up the Circle for discussion about things that had struck them. Responses from the women included…

• A strong conviction that Hagar should have pleaded for her child not to be an “ass of a man.”
• An assertion that it was significant that Hagar was told to “submit.” This woman thought it is very important to submit to God and his will, and that Hagar’s submission was what led to her offspring being multiplied so greatly.
• Follow-up opinions that women should submit to their husbands; men should be the head of the household.  To this the Circlekeeper said that there are men who ought not to be submitted to, and that abusive people should be left, not submitted to. There as general agreement to that.
• Several women said that they shared money-earning responsibilities with their husbands.

It was a productive and engaging discussion with various connections made to the story.

We had a full class for our first class of the summer: three of us from the church and eleven from the jail. The connections suggestions for the story of “Hagar Conceives a Child” were invitations to tell about (1) someone you know who couldn’t have a baby, or (2) a time you were treated with contempt. I started with a story about a friend who couldn’t have a baby and all but one of the others chose that option as well. Every situation described was unique, including recognition that sometimes the issue is with the man and a story about that. The woman who chose the contempt theme had a story that sounded much like that of Sarah and Hagar. Some of the stories were sad; some had happy endings; all were poignant.

The summer series for the Circle of the Word program at the Montgomery County Jail will be stories from Genesis. We will learn five stories about two strong women of faith, Sarah and Hagar. Sarah is the founding mother of the Jewish and Christian faiths. She was Abraham’s wife and Isaac’s mother. Hagar is the founding mother of the Islamic faith. She was Sarah’s slave and Ishmael’s mother.

I want to gain some understanding of these stories from the Islamic perspective as well as Jewish and Christian. On a recent trip to New York I met a young Muslim woman who told me some about them and is going to recommend resources for further study. Anyone reading this who can help, I would welcome your insights and recommendations.

The summer series for our Circle of the Word class at the Montgomery County (Ohio) jail starts this Wednesday and runs for seven weeks. We will be engaging the Genesis stories of Sarah and Hagar, two strong women of faith who might well be called “founding mothers.” Sarah is the founding mother of the Jewish and Christian faiths. She was Abraham’s wife and Isaac’s mother. Hagar is the founding mother of the Islamic faith. She was Abraham’s concubine and Ishmael’s mother. She was also Sarah’s Egyptian slave. It’s a relational triangle that results in lots of drama. It will be interesting to see the degree to which the women in jail relate to these stories.

Our Circle of the Word program is called “Sacred Stories” so as not to confuse it with another program at the jail called “Circles.” It takes place in a small room at the end of the hall on the fourth floor of the Montgomery County Jail. The story for March 11 was the story of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. As I prepared for the class I wondered how it would be for the women to spend time with a story about being arrested. They’ve all been there, at least once.

Six women joined Sharlyn and me on this particular Wednesday. One woman had never heard the story before. The others were familiar with it or knew it quite well. But no one knew the part about the young man running away naked. I assured them even most of the people in my church don’t know that part either.

When I got to the storylearning activity, that I not so creatively call “Repeat-After-Me,” we stood up in our circle.  As usual, the women dutifully repeated my words and gestures. And also as usual, the tightness in the room relaxed and smiles began to appear. No matter how serious the story, this activity is always a little silly and always a little joyful. Our version of Judas’ betrayal kiss failed to be remotely tragic.

When I came to the line “Then they laid hands on him and arrested him” I stopped to ask, “How should we show that ‘they laid hands on him’? What gesture should we use?” Several were offered: one hand on an arm, two hands on shoulders. Then someone put both hands behind her back, wrists crossed at the waist. There were murmurs of assent, nods of agreement. That’s the gesture of arrest.

The storyboard exercise entails listening to the story in parts and drawing simple pictures to help remember each scene. One woman drew handcuffs for the episode of Jesus’ arrest, and a heart with a jagged line through it to remind her of the part where all the disciples forsake him.

Sharing life connections with the story is usually succinct and always confidential. Not everyone chooses to speak. But everyone is engaged. Suffice it to say there was mention of feeling forsaken, of being betrayed, and of betraying others.

At the end of the class during a time of feedback, one woman said that it was special to be able to talk with outsiders about their experience. Again, there were murmurs of assent, nods of agreement. I was surprised, because the women hadn’t really said all that much. Nevertheless, through gestures, artwork, and naming connections their experience was clearly voiced and gently heard.

How does the body of Christ respond to the complex web of human tragedy represented by mass incarceration? Clearly there is a need for the church to engage in social action to address the systemic injustices that caused and that maintain mass incarceration. The church needs to function in its prophetic role. At the same time, there is the need for grass roots ministry with specific individuals, fulfilling Jesus’ mandate to visit those in prison (Matthew 25:31-46).

Last summer I attended an immersion experience at an Ohio state prison for a group of Christians from around the country. The group was mostly United Methodists, whose Board of Church and Society sponsored the “All In” experience. But we were also Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and probably a couple other flavors of Christianity as well. For three days we met with the “men in blue” in small groups and in plenary sessions.

On the second day the men were asked to give their recommendations for positive action to address mass incarceration. The next morning they presented a thoughtful list of varied suggestions. Their spokesman concluded the presentation with the tag line, “Do something.” This became a catchphrase for the whole group.  If the church’s work is guided by informed reflection on current realities, prayerful discernment of God’s will, and deep knowledge of biblical stories, those who follow the call to “Do something” can act with confidence whether their approach is systemic, interpersonal, or a combination of both.