The apostle Paul, guided by a dream, went to Philippi.
At the river some women had gathered for prayer.
Lydia was baptized, and offered her home for Paul and his friends.
Scripture records this: “And she prevailed upon us.”
The inner guide, the Teacher in us, follows a silent voice.
We learn to listen.
We go to new places and enter new experiences,
accepting not being “at home.”
We go down to the river: place or origin, place of flowing,
place of washing, place of gathering, place of prayer.
We are welcomed by women. We are dependent on women.
Scripture silences them, but they are leaders, they are heroes.
They are a community of faith and struggle, marginalized
but at the center of life. They are praying for us.
A seller of purple cloth, a strong woman, appears.
She opens her heart. She is transformed.
A woman’s voice within you speaks.
A woman’s voice within the Church speaks.
She makes a home for us. She welcomes us.
She is the temple. She is life. She is God.
The Transformed One, the Welcoming One
prevails.