On Feminine Ground for Our Work of Justice, Peace, and Sustainability

The Women of Spirit and Faith Patheos blog is currently exploring the theme “On Feminine Ground” in preparation for an event titled “On Feminine Ground: The Alchemy of Our COLLECTIVE Wisdom and Strength” at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in October.

I accepted the invitation to contribute to the collaborative Women of Spirit and Faith blog, responding to these questions: What do these words “On Feminine Ground” stir up in you? What does it mean to be “On Feminine Ground”? What new dreams might be manifested if we stand solidly “On Feminine Ground”?

Here is an excerpt from my blog article titled “On Feminine Ground for Our Work of Justice, Peace, and Sustainability”:

The words “On Feminine Ground” stir in me dreams of a transformed world. On Feminine Ground everyone has freedom to become all we are created to be in the divine image. On Feminine Ground all creation flourishes.

For too long our world has been out of balance with the masculine dominating and the feminine subordinated or excluded. We have all suffered from this imbalance. On Feminine Ground there will be a healthy balance that encourages all of us to embrace our wholeness and to experience our full humanity. This balance will give equal value to traits, such as compassion and nurturing, that have often been labeled and disparaged as “feminine.” Compassion, nurturing, collaboration, and peacemaking will be revalued and reclaimed not only as feminine traits, but also as human traits. On Feminine Ground we find gender equality, racial equality, marriage equality, economic justice, environmental justice, and justice for all. We find peace and sustainability. On Feminine Ground we will reclaim the heart of our humanity.

Feminine Ground is level ground with circles replacing hierarchies. Hierarchies create the illusion that some people are more valuable than others. Circles symbolize the equal value of all. In circles people share power, and everyone’s gifts have equal value. People of all faiths, races, genders, and nationalities come together to collaborate in a spirit of mutual respect.

At the 2014 and 2015 UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW), I had some of my most profound experiences of circles. In circles we shared our stories and dreams of a transformed world. These circles provided sacred space for every voice to be heard and for making spiritual connections to empower our social activism. One of the circles was entitled “Remembering the Sacred Heart of Your Activism: An Evening of Prayer, Reflection and Inspiration.” I resonated with this title that expresses my deep belief that spirituality empowers our social activism. The evening of prayers from many faith traditions and circle dialogue inspired our continued commitment to gender equality for the women and girls of the world.

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Also in connection with the Parliament of the World’s Religions I will be co-leading a presentation titled “Reclaiming the Divine Feminine for Our Work of Compassion, Justice, Peace, and Sustainability.” Here is a description of the presentation:

Reclaiming the Divine Feminine in our religious traditions will empower our work together for compassion, peace, justice, and sustainability. Restoring female images of the Divine will contribute to healing our wounded world. Including multicultural female divine images in our sacred rituals affirms the sacred value of females throughout the world who continue to suffer from violence and abuse. The earth, traditionally referred to as feminine, likewise suffers from exploitation and abuse. Rituals that include female images can make a powerful contribution to a more just world. Wisdom is among the female divine images common to many religious and spiritual traditions. “Wisdom” is Hokmah in Hebrew, Hikmah in Arabic, and Sophia in Greek. She also comes as Kwan Yin and Tara in Asian spiritual traditions and as the Black Madonna and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Catholic traditions. This panel discussion will highlight ways that multicultural female divine names and images in rituals form a foundation for interreligious collaboration, care for creation, nonviolence, economic justice, racial equality, gender equality, marriage equality, and changing hierarchies to circles. Following the panel discussion, there will be an interfaith ritual, including songs and readings, affirming the sacred value of all people and all creation. The program will conclude with participants forming circles for dialogue.