Proverbs
31:10-12: Who can
find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her
husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She
will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Proverbs
31: 25-31: Strength
and honour are her clothing…she openeth her mouth in wisdom; and in her tongue
is the law of kindness…..her children arise up and call her blessed; her
husband also, and he praiseth her….favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but
a woman who reveres the Lord, she shall be praised.
The ‘prince of this world’, the adversary of all that is good, is seeking to dull our inherent spiritual natures that we as women are born with by using the world and its ideals to weaken and eliminate our influence to the great detriment of our families and the society at large. He does this by devaluing marriage and motherhood; reinforcing the lie that a woman’s sexuality is what defines her worth; erasing of differences between the masculine and the feminine and even convincing us that we don’t know what a woman is.
Women today are encouraged to be more aggressive, tough and confrontational yet the Father made us gentle, kind, tender and loving. Nurturing our spiritual selves and putting aside the values of this world will ensure that we sharpen these attributes and become powerful enough to lift others to higher ground; this means our children, our spouses, our extended families, our friends, our co-workers, our communities. When we know who we are and don't allow the world to confuse us, we are being single minded, in other words, we are being at one with God who made us.
In
today’s world where women who murder their children are hailed as heroes, I
want to celebrate women whose womanhood exceeds the price of rubies. These are
women of God whose example endures forever. These are women who will get a seat
in the kingdom of God because of the goodness within them. What price would you
put to the value, contribution and example of these women:
·
The
suffering of Eve
·
The
sacrifice of Sarah
·
The
courage of Esther
·
The
devotion of Hannah
·
The
loyalty of Ruth
·
The
motherly protection of Elisabeth
·
The
submission of Mary
I will start with the suffering of Mother Eve. The woman who had no luxuries to retreat to, no appliances to make her life easier, no girlfriends who understood her difficulties and offered support, the woman who only had a willingness to start from scratch. Not only did Eve’s spiritual acumen lead her and her husband to leave the Garden of Eden and initiate the Plan of Salvation, but the courage to enter the world of suffering is beyond admiration….and suffer she did…..
A woman with much insight into Mother Eve by the name of Arta Romney Ballif paid this poetic homage to her who was the first woman to know sorrow:
God
said, “BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY”
And
God said, “I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THY SORROW”
Thy sorrow, sorrow, sorrow –
I have gotten a man from the Lord
I have traded the fruit of the
garden for fruit of my body
For a laughing bundle of humanity.
Adam, where are the boys?
Where is Abel?
He is long caring for his flocks.
Are the ewes lambing in this storm?
Why your troubled face, Adam? Are
you ill?
Why so pale, so agitated?
Dead? What is
dead? Merciful God!
I am trying to understand.
You said, “Abel is dead.”
But I am skilled with herbs….
Herbs will not
heal? Dead?
And Cain? Where is Cain?
Listen to that thunder.
Cain cursed?
God said, “A fugitive and a
vagabond?”
But God can’t do that.
They are my sons, too.
I gave them birth in the valley of
pain.
This is his home
This the soil he loved
Where he toiled for golden wheat
For tasselled corn.
To the hill country?
Quick, we must find him
I worry, thinking of him wandering
With no place to lay his head.
Cain cursed? A wanderer, a roamer?
Abel, my son dead?
And Cain, my son, a fugitive?
Two sons Adam, we had two sons
Both – oh, Adam – multiply sorrow.
Dear God, why?
Tell me again about the fruit.
Please tell me again, why?
- Arta Romney Ballif
I weep for Mother Eve and all she experienced,
endured and suffered. This, my friends, is a ruby far above price…..
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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