"Searching and Identity" with Delores Williams

I remember the first time I saw Delores Williams speaking on a panel at the AAR. It would have been around 2000 and I was mesmerized by the star studded panel of theologians, ethicists and Biblical scholars. Williams had a warm, gentle Southern voice which I would hear for the first time that day, and then again, a year later when I met her in her office. I was surprised at how easily my awe warmed to a sense of communion.

Knowing

I do not have the intimate or daily experiences of knowing Williams the way her students and friends might. I do not have a single photo with Williams. But, I remember reading her book, Sisters in the Wilderness, as if drinking one of the sweetest waters to ever warm my parched soul.

Like Sofia in The Color Purple, I'd fought against men, male relatives and male preachers, my entire life. I'd never been willing to surrender my love of God due to their ignorance. But I was more than willing to fight against the hold of patriarchy.

The words of womanist theologians, such as Delores Williams, helped me form the vocabulary with which to frame my arguments. Being in her presence and carrying that presence with me made me a little less alone. This video helps remind us that we all have those moments of "aloneness." We have each struggled, in our own way, to find our own voices.

Rebirth

You might have favorite moments in the lecture below. For me, I resonated with the statement that "it is not easy to be born again." This notion of refashioning one's thought process and language is key to our work within scholarship and as clergy. Few of us are born knowing exactly how to get there.

Williams also says, "she who breaks the mould, breaks the silences." It is that moulded form of religion which becomes concretized around us - and can often stiffle us. But one must be willing to challenge that mould in order to discover the sacredness of the voice God has given to us. This video is entitled, "Searching and Identity" are the Conditioning that Moulded Me Into Myself. It allows you to hear a bit of Delores Williams' journey. Perhaps, you may even discover your own journey.

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Dr. Nash for The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024