Veils.

    

  I find myself constantly trapped within veils during worship - like a persistent reminder of where my position stands in the church, like a bodily adornment. I like the way I am told of how women were never called to be leaders or teachers of the law, or worse, pastors. It took me many years though, to realise that while there was only one to cover my head, only one you could see, there were several veils wrapped around my throat, mouth and mind to the point where I would choke and rebuke the denomination I grew up in simply because of the many different veils that covered me.

      I have veils in my thinking, words and behaviour, almost like chains. Now, every time I see the curtain that separates the altar and the congregation being drawn, symbolising the Incarnation and Crucifixion, indicating to how the veil between God and man tore, I wish that each one of these veils that bind us to things unnecessary are also torn.

Here's a picture of the curtain that stands between the altar and the congregation. It is drawn/opened at the starting of the service

      I wish the veils of mental health are torn. I wish the veils of child abuse, male rape cases and marital rapes are torn. I wish the veils of many social constructs that we have built over time through cultural relevances are torn in a time where such practises no longer do any good.

      I wish that as we come closer to a time where a woman in my church can say that she is no longer compelled to cover her hair and the decision is purely her choice, that so many women will come out of their veils. No, not just the garment you see but the ones that muffled them for centuries together. I wish there are men  who come out of their veils of "masculinity" - the veils that kept them under constant pressure of not letting them spill their emotions. I wish the non binary genders too unveil themselves showing the world that they exist.

      I wish these veils tear as often as I see the symbolic tearing of the curtain that separates the altar and the congregation. I also wish the same curtain will one day no longer be a physical barrier for the entry of any human that doesn't belong to the male sex, for the altar has room for all. I only wish these veils tear for a Church that has a great history; and a church that has a great history mustn't have its name brought down by succumbing itself easily to veils such as these.

24.09.2018

Image Credits: https://www.mtcblr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Curtain-300x225.jpg