~May 10
Oh, I love Mother, I love her power,
I know it helps in every trying hour.
Help me to shake off, help me to break off,
Help me to shake off every bond and fear.
—American Shaker song
In nineteenth-century America, a new religion arose called the Shakers. Its founder was a great woman of spirit, Mother Ann Lee. Her followers lived in communal groups, worshiping the divine through dance and song, and celebrating the great power of simple life. It is a gift to be simple, they sang, a gift to be free. And, singing, they created that simply abundant life.
Today many yearn for such simplicity, but often forget to recognize the deep feminine-and feminist—power Mother Ann wielded. Judged a heretic by some, a crazy woman by others, she followed the calling of her heart and created her own religion. There was nothing simple about the actions of the Shakers’ founder. It was her profound belief that we are, as children of the divine, unable ultimately to do anything but what is good. “By turning, turning, we come round right,” her Shaker children sang. As we turn through today, let us pray that Mother Ann’s sure and generous vision can come true.
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