The woman is more idealistic, less content over a long period of time with the material and more quickly disillusioned about the carnal. She is more amphibious than man, in the sense that she moves with great facility in the two zones of matter and spirit. The often repeated suggestion that woman is more religious than man has some basis in truth but only in the sense that her nature is more readily disposed toward the ideal. The woman has a greater measure of the Eternal and man a greater measure of Time but both are essential for an incarnational universe in which Eternity embraces Time in a stable of Bethlehem.
Where there is descent into an equal degree of vice, there is always a greater scandal caused by a woman than the man. Nothing seems more a profanation of the sacred than a drunken woman. The so-called "double standard" which does not exist and which has no ethical foundation is actually based on the unconscious impulse of man to regard woman as the preserver of ideals even when he fails to live up to them.
There never can be a Giver without a Gift. This suggests the fourth difference. Man is generally the giver, woman the gift. The man has; the woman is. Man has a sentiment; woman is sentiment. Man is afraid of dying; woman is afraid of not living. She is unhappy unless she makes the double gift; first of herself to man then of herself to posterity, in the form of children. This quality of immolation because it involves the wholeness of herself, makes a woman seem less heroic than a man. The man concentrates his passions of love into great focal points. When there is a sudden outburst of love such as on a battlefield, he is immediately crowned the hero.
The woman, however, identifies love with existence and scatters her self-oblation through life. By multiplying her sacrifices, she seem to be less of a hero. Her daily dissipation of vital energies in the service of others makes no one act seem outstanding. It may well be that the woman is capable of greater sacrifice than man, not only because she is gift which is the same as surrender but also because seeing ends rather than means, and destines rather than the present, she sees the pearl of great price for which lesser fields may be sacrificed.
These differences are not irreconcilable opposites; rather, they are complementary qualities. Adam needed a helpmate and Eve was made - "flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone". The functional differences corresponded with certain psychic and character differences which made the body of one in relation to another like the violin, and the bow and the spirit of one to another like the poem.
There is no such problem as, "Which is more valuable?" for in the Sacred Scripture husband and wife are related, one to another, as Christ and His Church. The Incarnation meant Christ's taking unto Himself a human nature as a spouse and suffering and sacrificing Himself for it, that it might be unspotted and holy; so husband and wife are bound together in a union unbreakable except by death. But there is a problem which is purely relative, namely, "Which stands up better in a crisis - man or woman?" one can discuss this in a series of historical crises but without arriving any decision.
The best way to arrive at a conclusion is to go to the greatest crisis the world ever faced, namely, the Crucifixion of Our Divine Lord. When we come to this great drama of Calvary, there is one fact that stands out very clearly; man failed. Judas, who had eaten at His table, lifted up his heel against Him, sold Him for thirty pieces of silver and then blistered His lips, with a kiss, suggesting that all betrayals of Divinity are so terrible that they must be prefaced by some mark of esteem and affection, Pilate, the typical time-serving politician afraid of incurring the hatred of his government if he released a man whom he already admitted was innocent, sentenced Him to death. Annas and Caiphas resorted to illegal night trails and false witnesses, and rent their garments as if scandalized at His Divinity.
The three chosen Apostles who had witnessed the Transfiguration, and, therefore, were thought strong enough to endure the scandal of seeing the Shepherd struck, slept in a moment of greatest need because they were unworried and untroubled. On the way to Calvary, a stranger, interested only in the drama of a man going to execution was forced and compelled to offer Himself a helping hand. On Calvary itself, there is only one of the twelve Apostles present, John, and one wonders if even he would have been there had it not been for the presence of the Mother of Jesus.
On the other hand, there is not a single instance of a woman's failing Him. At the trail, the only voice that is raised in His defense is the voice of a woman. Braving the fury of court officials, she breaks into the judgment Hall and bids her husband, Pilate, not to condemn the "just man". On the way to Calvary, although a man is forced to help carry the Cross, the pious women of Jerusalem, ignoring the mockery of the soldiers and bystanders, console Him with words of sympathy.
One of them wipes His face with a towel, and, forever after, has the name of Veronica, which means "true image", for it was His image the Saviour left on her towel. On Calvary itself, there are three women present and the name of each is Mary; Mary of Magdala, who is forever at His feet and will be there again on Easter morning; Mary of Cleophas, the mother of James and John; and Mary, the Mother of Jesus - the three types of souls forever to be found beneath the Cross of Christ: penitence, motherhood and virginity.
This is the greatest crisis........................
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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