Rev. Stephanie M. Atkins, 1st Episcopal District
Will You Be Your Sister’s Keeper?
Rev. Stephanie M. Atkins, 1st Episcopal District
When you say you are your sister’s keeper, what do you really mean? Do you mean you will hold her secrets close in your heart and not share them with another? Do you mean she can trust you with her vulnerabilities and insecurities without fear of judgment or ridicule? Do you mean she can count on you when others walk away, stab her in the back or scandalize her name? What do you mean when you say, “I am my sister’s keeper?” Do you mean that you will watch her children when she takes that much-needed break from work, school, and the church? Or do you mean you will bring her a home-cooked meal when her heart is hurting, her body is beat down, or she has given all that she can give, and standing in a kitchen is the farthest thing from her mind? We say it all of the time, “I am my sister’s keeper,” but what do we really and earnestly mean?
What does it mean to be your sister’s keeper, and are we fit for keeping our sisters? Well, I like to liken this phrase to what Ruth meant when she decided to cleave to Naomi in such a way that she declared, “Where you go, I will go…your people shall be my people.” (Ruth 1:16) It is the willingness to give up your identity and residence for the sake of another sister’s wholeness. Similarly, it is Elizabeth to Mary, sharing in the amazement that they would both bear sons, without any jealousy about whose son would be the chosen one but celebrating each other in love. Are you your sister’s keeper when it is not about you but more about her? Will you not only share in the pain but bear her burdens. Being your sister’s keeper might require you to get in the trenches with someone else for a cause or agenda that may not directly impact you; however, it could influence decisions concerning you in the future. Being your sister’s keeper might require standing guard and manning—or sistering—a post that could put you in the line of fire no matter the risk that you must take to be her sister’s keeper.
You cannot be afraid to ask the question, go against the grain, argue the point, defend her position, honor her calling, or raise the initiative that benefits the greater good. Her fight is your fight because she is your sister. The next time you say that you are your sister’s keeper, watch your words because you may be called upon to take a stand. As sisters, we have to be the keepers of our sisters’ wounded souls. We may have to stand when others sit, go when others will not, speak when others are silent, and declare and decree what systems refute. “I am my sister’s keeper” when it is unpopular, when it may cost me my position, and even if it means I stand apart from the crowd. We must be who we say we are, by any means necessary. If we perish, let us perish, we must go before the King.
Rev. Stephanie Atkins is the pastor of Waters Memorial A.M.E. Church of the First Episcopal District.
