In the gospels,
Elizabeth is mainly identified as the improbable mother of John the Baptist. Apart
from the miraculous conception of her famous son, however, she has much to
teach us about how to be true to who we are in a world that often bullies people
with limitations or differences.
Elizabeth was
childless, and in her culture, that condition was believed to be a punishment
from God. Thus, in the midst of her own grief about her inability to conceive,
Elizabeth had to deal with the humiliation of being judged and shunned by her
community. As Diana Guédry Gaillardetz notes, “In a culture that condemned her
and saw her life as meaningless, Elizabeth could have recoiled into silence or
lashed out in bitterness. Instead, she remained faithful…[and] chose to spend
her days drawing near to God, focusing on what she could do with her life.”
People who are
bullied often are desperate to overcome what makes them different. If only they
knew that God’s life flows when we are true to our essence, even when that has
been shaped by virginity (Mary of Nazareth), infertility and old age (Sarah/Hannah/Elizabeth),
short stature (Zaccheus), and so on. It is by being who we are that we are able
to confer blessings on others. And because it is in God that we live and move and
have our being, who we are is just fine.
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