Nevertheless, She Persisted

Jesus taught his followers to persist in their prayer by telling a story about a woman and a judge. Despite multiple rebuffs, the woman kept coming before an unjust magistrate asking him to render her a fair decision in a conflict with an adversary. The story tells us that for a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, “While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" 

Actually, the translation would be better rendered, “gives me a black eye.” 

I can imagine the amusement as people visualized the pugilistic woman and the stubborn, indifferent judge. The covenant between God and the Jewish people called them to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger. How well one fulfilled that was a measure of faithfulness, so this indifferent judge would have received no respect from Jesus’ listeners. 

Jesus uses a rhetorical technique in this parable that was first promoted by the great Rabbi Hillel, who proceeded him in the Judaism of the day. If an unjust judge can do this much, the parable is saying, then how much more could your God, who is just and bound to you by divine promises, do on your behalf? 

I don’t think it’s an accident that Jesus chose a plea for justice when he crafted this story about the need to persevere in prayer. And in that regard, the story transcends the bounds Christianity. I say that because I am hard pressed to think of a single great faith tradition on this planet that is not, on some level, about justice for the oppressed, the marginalized, and the neglected. 

To become people of justice requires a few things, I think. Certainly prayer, as the parable reminds us. We work as if it all depends on us and pray as if it all depends upon God, to paraphrase St. Ignatius. Part of our prayer is for liberation from oppressions and the fulfillment of what we Catholics call the Common Good. But another part of our prayer might have to be for endurance, the kind of endurance the widow displays in fighting for her cause. 

I received a number of wonderful gifts for my ordination, and among them was a desk name sign. It's pink with white lettering, and it says "Nevertheless She Persisted." That phrase became an anthem for women's equality in 2017. Senator Elizabeth Warren, arguing that the nominee for Attorney General should withdraw his nomination, read a letter from Coretta Scott King regarding the record of Jeff Sessions in to the congressional record. It was asserted immediately that she was violating a rule that prohibits senators from ascribing "to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator." In defending the need to silence her, Mitch McConnell, expressed his outrage by  noting that even though she had been told to cease, "nevertheless she persisted."

There's something so perfect in that three word phrase. The nerve of her! It was a hatch-tag ready motto for the affront of outspoken women. Pushy women. Aggressive women.  And they're even in the Bible, these misbehaving gals! 

It’s not easy to be the person who speaks up. I think of Greta Thunberg, and the many people who maligned her on social media during a recent visit to the US. It can be life threatening, as we saw in the case of Malala Yousafzai. Still, we live in an era of blessedly outspoken women, particularly younger women. Greta and Malala. Emma Gonzalez. Marley Dias. Autumn Peltier.  All of whom follow other strong female voices. Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and ancestors too numerous to list.

In our age, there’s a tension between the expectation that people of both genders will fight for justice and that they will maintain some degree of cordiality while they do it. Assertive people can be uncomfortable people, and their actions can be dismissed as too aggressive. Or bad form. Or simply not “Minnesota Nice.”

There's a parallel in living our faith, whatever tradition grounds us. I don't know about you, but despite appearances to the contrary, I hate rocking the boat. I regret upsetting people and try to avoid it. But the situations we are facing today as a global community – halting climate change, ending poverty, promoting peace, achieving gender equality, providing access to healthcare and nutritious food – demand that we build muscle in fighting for what’s right. And the only way we do that is to keep practicing. To keep coming before the judge. To keep demanding.

And praying, of course.