2) For the second reading, what phrases capture your attention? What words did you concentrate on?
3) For the third reading, what ideas or thoughts or questions come to mind?
1 Samuel 1:4-20
1:4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;
1:5 but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.
1:6 Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
1:7 So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.
1:8 Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
1:9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
1:10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly.
1:11 She made this vow: "O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head."
1:12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
1:13 Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
1:14 So Eli said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine."
1:15 But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.
1:16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time."
1:17 Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him."
1:18 And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
1:19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.
1:20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the LORD."
+ How easy it was for Hannah's posture of prayer to be confused with drunkenness...
+ Is it because Eli is so disconnected from that kind of intense praying that he is unable (no longer able) to recognize/see Hannah's ardor, and therefore mistakes it for drunkenness?
+ Isn't it true that sometimes we define our practices of prayer in such limited ways that prevent us from appreciating the mystery and power of prayer?
+ Sometimes, we are reminded that people who are labeled/titled "holy" can still learn from the laity; in this narrative, Hannah manifests more faith, more earnestness, more holiness than Eli expected
+ How presumptuous of Eli to take Hannah to task for displaying drunkenness!
+ Elkanah: demonstrates attentiveness and a level of sensitivity almost unheard of in husbands within other narratives, yet he still is unable to understand Hannah's grief and deep hunger/desire; he recognizes her sadness and seeks to fill her emptiness with "double portions" and loves her, but still does not comprehend the source of her emptiness
+ While some narratives highlight wives' barrenness and often attribute it to sin committed on their part, this narrative lifts up Elkanah's love for his wife despite the fact that they have no children; no blame is heaped on her by him... or,
+ Or is it that he blames her but still loves her despite her barrenness? Is it possible for us to entertain the idea that he does not attribute her barrenness to her sin, like some interpretations are wont to do?
+ Could Elkanah, as husband, have done something to alleviate the rivalry between the two women? Questions of polygamy enter into the scene here... For years Hannah endured the pain caused by Elkanah's other wife, Peninnah... Might he have done something to change the situation? Or, did he do something to aggravate the situation?
+ Surely his favoritism of Hannah over Peninnah contributed and aggravated the rivalry between them... Doesn't this remind us of the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah?
+ Hannah's deep hunger could only be understood by God. Neither husband nor holy priest understood her bitterness, her sadness, her distress. Hannah knew that and recognized it.
+ Hannah's vow to God to dedicate her son, to commit him to a priestly vocation -- what an amazing sacrifice!
+ What if we were to think of prayer and define prayer in such radically different ways?
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