Who Is My Mother?

Adult women are often brought up short when they realize, through something they have said or done, "I sound just like my mother." At times this can be a moment of joy and pride; most often, however, it is a moment of consternation. Always it should be moments of self-awareness--we, as women, are not as autonomous as we would like to think we are. As Coki Roberts proclaims, in the title of her book, "We Are Our Mother's Daughters." In the context of this blog we are exploring what it means to be daughters of our mothers Hagar and Sarah.
As a Christian woman I have been taught that I should claim my lineage through Sarah.
In the introduction to the book, Letty and Phyllis succinctly, yet powerfully, explain how this mistaken notion was handed down to me through generations of Christian mothers. The fable I was taught was—‘Sarah was the chosen of God, we (Christians) are the chosen of God, and therefore Sarah is our mother.’
Like many fables that perpetuate the myths of power and privilege, this fable is much too simplistic. It does not reflect the complexity of the story and the, scant, but telling history of Hagar and Sarah.

What would change in your perspective and experience if you claimed both Hagar and Sarah as your mothers?
• If you claimed both Hagar and Sarah as God's chosen ones?
• If you claimed a dis-unified family as your family of origin? ("By the command of God, a single family has become two families, one living with the father and the other, apart from him. pp. 3)

Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children

I am inviting the community to read and comment on the book Hagar, Sarah and Their Children in preparation for a set of discussions and presentations taking place this October. The book is edited by Phyllis Tribble and Letty Russell. Phyllis will be speaking in the Twin Cities on Thursday, October 18, 2007, 7:30 p.m. On Friday October 19th 9am-noon she will be part of a panel discussion which will include scholars from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions:Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Dr. Corrine Carvalho, Dr. Ingrid Mattson.

The book is a compilation of thoughts, essays and studies written by Phyllis and Letty and scholars from the three Abrahamic traditions. The first chapter orients the reader to the three traditions which claim the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. A piece that intrigued me in this overview was thinking about what it would be like to be identified with Hagar instead of Sarah. How would that play out in my own faith journey? What attitudes would I develop as the outcast one's daughter?

Reading the accounts of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (or lack of accounts of Sarah and Hagar) in the writings of the three faiths was fascinating. Is it just a matter of patriarchy that makes the writings all but silent on the full stories of Sarah and Hagar?

Reading the non-canonical sources of the families reminds me again that history is not made up of cold hard facts but of our perception of facts which usually support our own agenda. This sort of 'historical record' can be very damaging to the human family. How do we guard against such historical writing and thinking?