Amazing women
13/03/13 03:05
I was born into a household of women. My father was the sole male in the house with his wife and three daughters when I was brought home from the hospital. I did not want for attention, although it is possible that my oldest sisters saw me as a sort of complex plaything rather than a sibling. You’d have to ask them to get the whole picture. Whatever they thought of me, I grew up surrounded by very capable women. I have known from my earliest days that women could do anything. There were brothers to follow me and I am also grateful for them, but I now know that being younger brother to three sisters was a position of privilege in the family.
As a result, when women accomplish big things in life it doesn’t surprise me. I was not surprised by Hillary Clinton’s serious bid for the Presidency. I am only surprised that I have lived to this age and we still have not had a woman president in the United States. I am thinking that by the time it happens, it will be a bit anti-climactic, a sort of “it’s about time” moment.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch the power of amazing women at work. First of all, it is rummage sale week at our church. Twice each year our Women’s Fellowship puts on a gigantic rummage sale. When I say gigantic – I mean really, really big. The entire fellowship hall and entryway of the church is filled with tables and racks of used items. The merchandise overflows outside of the building with displays of furniture and lawn equipment. Everything is reasonably priced and when the sale opens Friday morning, there will be crowds of bargain hunters lined up. The Women’s Fellowship directs all of their income into direct mission projects, supporting outreach into the community in partnerships with a dozen other agencies as well as the work of the church to extend its mission and ministry.
Although there are a lot of women working hard at the church every day, you might not know that this was a women’s fellowship project if you were unaware of the great power that women have to recruit men to share the work. The work force includes several dedicated men who chip in and help to make the sale a success.
In the middle of the afternoon, I stopped by Hospice House to visit the mother of a colleague. I met Jim Wood in the late 1980’s when he was an Intern at another UCC congregation in Boise, Idaho. I served a sister congregation across town. Jim was a laid back and natural pastor who understood both the academic rigors of theology and the practical aspects of hands-on ministry. We enjoyed spending time together talking about the ministry and the people we served. I knew of his family from his stories, but did not meet his parents or siblings. Decades later, when I moved to Rapid City, I met his sister, who lives in our town. Then, on a couple of occasions I had the opportunity to meet his mother who eventually came to live with the sister. So, when I heard his mother was in hospice house, I paid a visit, partly hoping that there might be another family member around with whom to visit and share the journey of the end of life of a loved one. His mom was alone in her room when I entered. I introduced myself. Her face brightened and she immediately recalled that I had known her son in Boise when he was an Intern and then proceeded to tell a nurse who stopped by to check on her about a dinner at her daughter’s house where my wife, my mother and I were entertained. What a memory! What an amazing woman! What a joy to pay a visit. During my visit she complimented the staff of the Hospice House for their competence, medical attention and care. She said, “I’ve just got one more corner to turn. I can’t see around the corner, yet, but I think I may be beginning to turn.” That is an image I’ll never forget. With luck, I might even be able to share it with others. I won’t be waiting until I am in my ‘90’s an on my deathbed to do so, however. I’m not sure that I will retain the clarity, or enthusiasm that I witnessed yesterday.
From hospice house I headed to the hospital to visit another 90+ year-old woman who belongs to our church and who broke her hip last week. Less than a week after a long and complicated surgery to repair the shattered joint, she had left the medical floor and now was at the rehabilitation center working on physical therapy in anticipation of release from the hospital before the end of this week. I recalled my visit to her last Thursday, the day after her surgery and how I thought as I entered the room, “She looks like the surgery was a week ago, not just a day ago.” Every visit she has amazed me with the speed of her recovery, her enthusiasm for life and her joy in visiting with friends. I’ve visited lots of 70-somethings who don’t recover from surgery with as much energy and enthusiasm.
I was raised among amazing women. I grew up expecting women to be brilliant, capable and leaders. And there are still plenty of women who surprise me.
I was reading recently of the Nuns of New Skete, a group of Eastern Orthodox monastic women who live in a Cambridge, New York, close to the Vermont border. Most of the members of the small community are in their ‘80’s having lived simple, modest lives of prayer. The community is self-sufficient, believing that nuns and monks should support themselves by their own labor. The New Skete Nuns support themselves with a commercial bakery that is famous for its gourmet cheesecake. Heavenly Cakes sells cheesecakes and fruitcakes through restaurants, a store at the monastery, and over the Internet. Were I not a bit too heavy, I’d be seriously tempted by the cheesecake of the month club.
I am thinking of the amazing women I’ve met as the Cardinals begin their second day of deliberation seeking discernment of who the next Pope will be. I am confident that the Holy Spirit will work through their deliberations. However, I have no doubt that we would be amazed and delighted if they were enabled to choose from all of the great leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, instead of limiting their search to just one of the genders of their faith.
I probably won’t live long enough to witness the first woman pope. I may not live long enough to witness the first woman priest of the Roman Catholic Church. But whenever it happens, I’ll guarantee you that it will be an amazing woman.
As a result, when women accomplish big things in life it doesn’t surprise me. I was not surprised by Hillary Clinton’s serious bid for the Presidency. I am only surprised that I have lived to this age and we still have not had a woman president in the United States. I am thinking that by the time it happens, it will be a bit anti-climactic, a sort of “it’s about time” moment.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch the power of amazing women at work. First of all, it is rummage sale week at our church. Twice each year our Women’s Fellowship puts on a gigantic rummage sale. When I say gigantic – I mean really, really big. The entire fellowship hall and entryway of the church is filled with tables and racks of used items. The merchandise overflows outside of the building with displays of furniture and lawn equipment. Everything is reasonably priced and when the sale opens Friday morning, there will be crowds of bargain hunters lined up. The Women’s Fellowship directs all of their income into direct mission projects, supporting outreach into the community in partnerships with a dozen other agencies as well as the work of the church to extend its mission and ministry.
Although there are a lot of women working hard at the church every day, you might not know that this was a women’s fellowship project if you were unaware of the great power that women have to recruit men to share the work. The work force includes several dedicated men who chip in and help to make the sale a success.
In the middle of the afternoon, I stopped by Hospice House to visit the mother of a colleague. I met Jim Wood in the late 1980’s when he was an Intern at another UCC congregation in Boise, Idaho. I served a sister congregation across town. Jim was a laid back and natural pastor who understood both the academic rigors of theology and the practical aspects of hands-on ministry. We enjoyed spending time together talking about the ministry and the people we served. I knew of his family from his stories, but did not meet his parents or siblings. Decades later, when I moved to Rapid City, I met his sister, who lives in our town. Then, on a couple of occasions I had the opportunity to meet his mother who eventually came to live with the sister. So, when I heard his mother was in hospice house, I paid a visit, partly hoping that there might be another family member around with whom to visit and share the journey of the end of life of a loved one. His mom was alone in her room when I entered. I introduced myself. Her face brightened and she immediately recalled that I had known her son in Boise when he was an Intern and then proceeded to tell a nurse who stopped by to check on her about a dinner at her daughter’s house where my wife, my mother and I were entertained. What a memory! What an amazing woman! What a joy to pay a visit. During my visit she complimented the staff of the Hospice House for their competence, medical attention and care. She said, “I’ve just got one more corner to turn. I can’t see around the corner, yet, but I think I may be beginning to turn.” That is an image I’ll never forget. With luck, I might even be able to share it with others. I won’t be waiting until I am in my ‘90’s an on my deathbed to do so, however. I’m not sure that I will retain the clarity, or enthusiasm that I witnessed yesterday.
From hospice house I headed to the hospital to visit another 90+ year-old woman who belongs to our church and who broke her hip last week. Less than a week after a long and complicated surgery to repair the shattered joint, she had left the medical floor and now was at the rehabilitation center working on physical therapy in anticipation of release from the hospital before the end of this week. I recalled my visit to her last Thursday, the day after her surgery and how I thought as I entered the room, “She looks like the surgery was a week ago, not just a day ago.” Every visit she has amazed me with the speed of her recovery, her enthusiasm for life and her joy in visiting with friends. I’ve visited lots of 70-somethings who don’t recover from surgery with as much energy and enthusiasm.
I was raised among amazing women. I grew up expecting women to be brilliant, capable and leaders. And there are still plenty of women who surprise me.
I was reading recently of the Nuns of New Skete, a group of Eastern Orthodox monastic women who live in a Cambridge, New York, close to the Vermont border. Most of the members of the small community are in their ‘80’s having lived simple, modest lives of prayer. The community is self-sufficient, believing that nuns and monks should support themselves by their own labor. The New Skete Nuns support themselves with a commercial bakery that is famous for its gourmet cheesecake. Heavenly Cakes sells cheesecakes and fruitcakes through restaurants, a store at the monastery, and over the Internet. Were I not a bit too heavy, I’d be seriously tempted by the cheesecake of the month club.
I am thinking of the amazing women I’ve met as the Cardinals begin their second day of deliberation seeking discernment of who the next Pope will be. I am confident that the Holy Spirit will work through their deliberations. However, I have no doubt that we would be amazed and delighted if they were enabled to choose from all of the great leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, instead of limiting their search to just one of the genders of their faith.
I probably won’t live long enough to witness the first woman pope. I may not live long enough to witness the first woman priest of the Roman Catholic Church. But whenever it happens, I’ll guarantee you that it will be an amazing woman.