Hagar Genesis: 16, 17 and 21

Time went by and memories of living in those harmonious garden days were beginning to fade. Human creatures had increased and multiplied just as they had been told to do. It was not without pain, struggle and division.

Now two women arrive on the scene. At the center of this story is a man named Abram. He had visions and believed that he was to be the father of a great nation. Of course his wife Sarai would have to give him many children especially sons to accomplish this. This was not happening and it was putting a great strain on both he and his wife. In desperation to provide an heir to Abram, Sarai asked her devoted maid servant to lie with him. Sarai herself remembered having been given over to other men several times for Abram’s sake. She understood how her servant would feel from forced sexual relations. Surrogate motherhood had become common practice for the sake of providing an heir. Abram followed his wife’s wishes and her servant, Hagar, became pregnant with his child. However carrying Abram's heir provided the lowly slave woman a new sense of worth. Perhaps the girl was reacting to a loss of respect for Sarai for treating her as a sex object and using her for Sarai's own purposes. Whatever the reasons, Abram’s household became dysfunctional and the slave girl began to regard her situation as intolerable. She considered running away knowing full well the consequences to herself and the child she carried.

Her heart's desire: Sarai wanted to please her husband and to help make his dreams come true.

Points to ponder:
This is one of many stories in the Bible where the worth of a woman was contingent upon childbearing and giving birth to a son. God’s plans are seen as dependent on a woman giving birth. Yet patriarchal religions deny that women should share important roles in bringing God to the community. Are there still signs in society that a woman's role and value are linked primarily to childbearing?

The servant girl symbolizes the many women whose pregnancy was not freely chosen. Unwanted pregnancy and inability to concieve are unresolved ethical issues that still divide the family of man. Using women as sex objects and interfering with women's sexuality is a global problem that we cannot ignore. What can we do about changing these situations for the female populations of the world?

Abram was already a very successful man but his sense of self worth, and being chosen by God to claim and change the world, makes him determined to do anything to make it happen. Much of what he had already aquired were the passive results of Sarai's actions. He realizes she is beautiful and powerful but instead of giving her credit she is made to feel guilty and responsible for his vision not being fulfilled. Many women sense they are living in a man's world? How can we change that? What do women know about a time, the matriachal period, when women were revered for their gifts, powers and spiritual roles and not only for their fertility abilities? What can they learn from medieval women's movements like the Beguines and other women's communities established in the middle ages?