so strong and bright,
gentle mother peaceful dove
teach us wisdom; teach us love.
You were chosen by the Father:
You were chosen for the Son,
You were chosen from all women
and for woman shining one.
Blessed are you among women
Blessed in turn all women too
Blessed they with peaceful spirits
Blessed they with gentle hearts.
This is a very interesting song. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a woman of God and I find no better place to look than the Woman who God chose to carry and raise His One and Only Son. This is not worship of a woman, but finding a woman who I myself can follow. She was a virgin and mother. She is the one mother throughout all time was chosen, yes, chosen from all women, but more, chosen by her Son. Mary.
As I have been meditating on the kind of woman Mary was, I am faced with the words and reality of this song, "Gentle woman...peaceful dove, teach us wisdom, teach us love." What is gentleness, and why is it one of the fruits the Holy Spirit showers upon us? And when will I receive my portion?
My mom and I visited the grave of my ballet teacher, Mrs. Ann, today on the seventh anniversary of her death. We brought flowers and stopped for a while to recall some of our favorite memories of Mrs. Ann. We talked about the silly things she did, the beautiful way she lived her life, and all she taught us about loving ourselves. As we went to leave my mother mentioned Mrs. Ann's gentle spirit, and I knew I was being called to meditate on the idea of gentleness more.
Mrs. Ann was by no means a doormat. She didn't let people take advantage of her. She had such a great strength and fire within her, but she also had an unmistakable gentleness. She was the most fully alive and fully feminine woman I have ever known.
I do not have a definitive end to this post. I do not have the answers. I am still struggling with the weight of what is required of me in order to be a gentle woman. It's not easy for me; I have never been a gentle woman. I am loud, aggressive, and often rude. I am blunt, and speak quickly, not thinking about the hurt that my words cause. Gentleness is one of the biggest challenges I face in trying to be a woman of God. For me it's easy to want to equate gentleness with weakness, mostly because I can't seem to personally master the concept of being gentle. I want to say that gentleness asks me to be weak, because it is too hard for me. But when I see what gentleness looked like in Mrs. Ann, I know it is the opposite of weakness. She was humble, yet confident in her identity as a daughter of God. When I realize what courage and love it took for Mary to raise the Son of the Most High, and then suffer with Him as He died for our sins, I know what true gentleness is.
When will I receive my portion?
1 comment:
Wow, it's really awesome that you posted this because it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately (though related to a man, obviously). I was actually planning on writing about it but the words haven't become clear in my head yet. I think you might find it interesting because it'll be a guy's perspective on the matter (if I ever get to writing it).
Anyway, I think the greatest thing of it all is that as Catholics we have such perfect prototypes of womanhood and manhood in Mary and in her Son. There's no going wrong when trying to be like them...
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