The wings were the worst. Made of wire from coat hangers, cardboard, and elastic, and lined with silver garland, they always slipped to one side. The silver garland was prickly on the back of my neck, and the wire dug into my shoulder blade. It seemed that I was an angel in the Sunday school nativity play every year.

I resented those uncomfortable angel wings because they meant I was an angel in the chorus yet again. I really wanted to be one of the magi, to wear a colorful robe and lay my gift before the Christ child. But as a girl, I was trapped in a single role, and it seemed unfair. (I'll concede that I wasn't the most natural choice to play the docile and silent Mary.)

In 1971, Congress designated August 26 as Women's Equality Day. It commemorates two occasions: the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote; and Women's Strike Day, August 26, 1970, when tens of thousands of women demonstrated across the United States and in Paris for women's equality. Women have come a long way, thanks to the suffragists of the early years of the twentieth century and the activists of the later part of the century.

My life is a testimony to their courage and their commitment. I attend an ELCA seminary and, as a Lutheran, am allowed to seek ordination. Last year, my seminary called a woman to serve as its president. Still, at times I feel the burden of inequality, like something heavy on my back, like those wings, and it hurts.

The Bible and equality
When I have suffered loneliness, uncertainty, or loss, I have always turned to my faith. I've gone to the Bible, to church, and to God in prayer.

But I am less sure about how my faith can help me deal with inequality. Much of the Bible seems to make it clear that women are not equal to men — nor are we meant to be — and throughout most of Christian history, the church has done little to challenge these hurtful biblical teachings. As a seminary student, I am learning to read the Bible as a testimony to God's gracious love for all of creation, but I lose confidence in the face of these words from 1 Timothy: "Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent" (2:11-12).

This is what the Bible says about women — but to the same Bible belong these words from Galatians: ". . . there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ" (3:28). I believe that Jesus' commandment that we love one another permits no inequality, no injustice, and no sexism. I know that Jesus surrounded himself with strong women — women he trusted, women he listened to. Some financed much of his ministry; some were called disciples. For me, the messages of inequality in the Bible are surpassed by the ones that liberate us. I cannot ignore the harsh words I find in the Bible; I simply cling to a gospel of love that utterly transcends them.

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