Celtic Advent Day 3

Celtic Advent for November 17th 38 days until Christmas

So, hopefully, it is clear I am trying to do these devotional ramblings the "night" before the actual calendar date--sort of following Hebrew tradition on that one.  November 17th is the feast day of St. Hilda of Whitby.  I find that I have to restrain myself and pick one aspect of Hilda's life to dwell on, as there is so much about her that is incredible.  Several years ago I became a member of the Order of St. Aidan and Hilda, a non-residential neomonastic group that focuses on Celtic Christianity.  With Hilda as one of the namesakes, I obviously feel like I need to make sure she doesn't get short shrift. (www.aidanandhilda.us/ if someone reading this is interested).

Hilda is not exactly a Celtic name--and indeed, Hilda was actually Anglo-Saxon, specifically Northumbrian.  She lived in the 7th Century and became a disciple of the great St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, and a follower of the Celtic style of Christianity.  Much like her Irish counterpart, Brigid of Kildare, she founded a dual monastery (both men and women)--her's was at Whitby.  It was at this site that she was asked to host the great Synod--a meeting of the representative of the Celtic church and of the Roman church, to work out the differences between them.  The Celts lost out and over the ensuing years the Church in England adopted not only the Roman dating of Easter but the whole hierarchical structure of the Roman Church (compared to the monastic focus of the Celtic Church).  She is described often as an inspired, compassionate leader who often prompted others in their growth as Christians.

I was tempted to focus on how Hilda worked toward reconciliation and harmony after the Synod of Whitby.  But I find that I am being drawn to talk about Hilda and gender issues, both in the church and in my own growth.  The Celts were way ahead of their time in this arena. In Ireland in particular, women were considered the equal of men and held positions of authority. There is a story, apocryphal perhaps, but based on prevailing sentiment, that Brigid was ordained as bishop by St. Mel, who stated that he couldn't help himself, that the Holy Spirit made him do it.
A wonderful fictional account of this whole aspect of Celtic Christianity is the Sister Fidelma mystery series by Ellis Peters (the pen name of Peter Berresford Ellis, a University Celtic scholar).  Hilda was an exemplar of this same kind of empowerment of women.  She would have to be in order head up the Synod, as well as the dual monastery.  For the time that she lived in I find this to be amazing, and often humbling when I consider my own journey.

I was raised by a single mom at a time when that was a rarity.  I used to think, back in high school and through my mid thirties, that this somehow made me more egalitarian in attitude and approach to women.  But I sometimes was accused by my co-workers, particularly some of the female resident physicians that I was training, of being gender biased.  About this time by mother moved from California to live out here with us in Colorado, and I realized that she herself was fairly sexist in her views of other women.  Being a product of my upbringing I was certainly, if unconsciouly, modeling her behavior and attitudes. I began to make a concerted effort to watch my language and interactions--yet it is often still that I find myself having said or done something that could be interpreted as gender biased.  One's upringing is hard to shed!!
I truly believe that just as in Christ there "is no East or West," that in the Community of Saints there is no gender focus, that one is accepted for who one is as a person and a disciple. There cannot be a different standard based on gender.  So...at this point in my life...I love reading about a Hilda, and hoping that God will continue to help me grow in this arena.

Lord, you accepted all humans as your disciples, regardless of gender, as exemplified by the Magdelene and your treatment of both the Syro-Phoenecian woman and the woman at the well.  Help me, Lord, in my continued growth in this arena. Help me during this advent time to look at each person I encounter as a fellow human being first,  and to accept them as one of your children. Help me to continue to critically examine my own biases and prejudices and give them up through your love.  Let Your love surround my thoughts and actions as You guide me in this area of my growth. So be it. Amen.