RELIGION —
Janice and I are blessed with two adult daughters, one daughter-in-law and one granddaughter. We also have an adult son and four grandsons, but this piece is not about the boys — it is all about the girls.
Being a woman is a blessed thing. That’s the message of creation. God creates man from the dust of the ground but creates woman from man’s rib. Adam, who up until this time has been hanging out with alligators, elephants and other animals, is thrilled to have a companion that corresponds to him (“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” – Genesis 2:23).
Then we’re told in 5:1-2 that, “When God created mankind, He made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them.” God created man as male and female. There is wonderful diversity as they are created differently, and that difference goes all the way down to the cellular level. But there is also an overarching unity as they are both created to image God. Eve is made to be a woman, a wife and a mother while Adam is made to be a man, a husband and a father. Nonetheless, there is equality as they are both made to be image bearers of God. Since being an image bearer of God is a blessed thing, being a woman is too.
That’s not exactly the message we get from culture where women are often celebrated in direct proportion to how much they can act like a man. Our cultural prophets (entertainers, politicians, influencers, the news media) all work hard to disproportionally expose us to women who work in traditionally male professions (firefighting, logging, military special forces, etc.). Or they showcase women playing football, dunking a basketball or wrestling against guys. Or in the worst-case scenarios, since we have a series of raunchy movies about groomsmen, a series of raunchy movies about bridesmaids are made in response to show that women are equally capable of getting drunk or high and acting in crude and coarse ways.
Meanwhile, we hear very little about distinctly feminine accomplishments. I read 65 quotes from “strong women” — mostly entertainers, politicians, etc., — and there was nothing in them concerning motherhood. Does motherhood have nothing to do with being a strong woman? What is the message in all of this? Apparently, it is to convince us that women can do anything men can do. This is as patently false and unhealthy as is the message men can do anything women can do, but it is needed by those who confuse being equal with being identical, so we are inundated with it.
If we consistently put before girls and young ladies the idea that strong women are those who act like men — doesn’t the not-so-hidden message become that they are only important to the degree they are like men? What a ridiculous and harmful message. No wonder there is so much confusion about in our culture about basic gender matters.
Mothers — you are oh-so-special to us for many, many reasons but a big one is because you are mothers. You give birth, you nurture, you do a thousand and one things as mothers that no one else can do the way you can. We are richly blessed by you and so is all humanity.
Blessed are the mothers.
You can find more of Green’s writings at his website: a-taste-of-grace-with-bruce-green.com.