Who Are Our Hannahs?
7 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. 8 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?" 9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly. (1 Samuel 1:7-10)
Hannah was unable to conceive, while her husband's other wife had several children. Hannah's feeling that she had been denied something so basic, yet so intrinsic to her security (if her husband died, she would be destitute if she had no son), was the source of great grief. But this is not just a story about a woman who wanted, and was unable to have, a child. Hannah represents those on the margins. The margins are not always obvious societal delineations, like those experiencing homelessness, addiction and violence. Sometimes the margins are so close to our assumed positions of security that we barely know the difference.
We have built unnecessary barriers to basic needs and turned rights for all into privileges for some. Where and to whom we are born is not a choice any of us made, yet those two things directly impact every aspect of our lives and the options readily available to us. If we had not noticed before, it became glaringly obvious throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that most of the services we rely on are provided by the working poor - those whose jobs don't afford them the right to take time for medical care for themselves or their dependents, those whose livelihoods require constant, polite, interaction with a society that refuses to even see them, let alone value them, those who must work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. The safety nets we have in place still leave so many drowning. In some cases, we see a Hannah in the mirror who "made it", and this distortion clouds our empathy for the Hannahs around us.
Do we respond like Hannah's husband, Elkanah, asking why they can't be happy with what they have? Do we respond like the priest, Eli, presuming their requests are frivolous or snubbing our nose at the indignity with which they present themselves? Or, do we respond like bearers of the Light, creating opportunity, making space, acknowledging worth?
6 The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world. (1 Samuel 2:6-8)
Comments