1 Samuel 1: 7 – 8; 10; 13
“So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly.
Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk.”
Because of her barrenness…
Because of the constant picking…
Because of her inadequacies…
Hannah developed a mental illness.
She would not eat…
She was constantly crying…
She was always sad…
She appeared to talk to herself…
Hannah had all the symptoms of a mentally ill woman…
She was depressed.
Yet no one saw her pain…
Only solutions…
Her sister-wife’s response?
Taunting.
Her husband’s response?
Himself.
The church’s response?
Rejection and dismissal.
But, what would it have looked like for Hannah’s pain to be acknowledged and cared for?
How much better could her relationships and family had been if only she was taken seriously?
What if everyone had put aside their own stuff and really made space for her?
Maybe she would not have had to make such a desperate plea to God that required her to give away a piece of herself.
Maybe, just maybe, she could have been a present mother for her son.
#Igotquestions #Ineedanswers #quriouschronicles #qurioustheologian
