Daughters of Understanding

Daughters of Understanding


For a moment the guest speaker for the Senior Citizens' Chapel was stumped.

He had prepared a message which probably would most apply to the men. A message of the peril of trusting in self-help when the larger troubles came; of complete failure in waiting upon God for His arrival, input and help. This was the burden of the prophet Isaiah in the 30th chapter. And men are forever 'trying to do it themselves'.

But the speaker faced a room of women only. Eager in song, prayer, encouragement and deserving of a relevant, edifying message for their needs. What to do? Clearly the thorough notes of preparation were out of order now.

But this was the Sunday following Easter Sunday and the speaker's consciousness was full of the images of women ministering to the Man of Sorrows. Womenfolk "got" the intensity, the purpose and the large ultimate messages of suffering. They were always the ones who suffered in thwarted romance, in child-bearing, in wayward children, in obtuse husbands, in comparative weakness of frame, in vocational "glass ceilings" and in frequent widowhood.

And the story of the Passion of the Christ, which had so filled the speaker's heart and mind for a couple of weeks, was replete with noble deeds of women. There was Mary of Bethany who washed the feet of Jesus with expensive ointment, drying them with her long hair. There were the daughters of Zion who wept along the Via Dolorasa and were told by their scourged Rabbi to pray in the face of coming judgment. There was the fabled Veronica (not found in scripture) who went to the ground with a stumbling Christ under His cross, and who offered her head shawl for the cleansing and soothing of His bloodied, grimy face. There was Mary Magdalene, first at the tomb on Easter Morning, intending to finish preparations of a dead body, but discovering instead with joy her risen Lord.

All of them women who "got" suffering, and who treasured it in the experiences of the Master. We see in each contribution the roots of women's input through the ages in the churches- hospitality, refreshment, fragrance of loyalty, comfort, mighty intercession, tidying up, joy and adoration, memorable artifacts and zealous testimony.

So the speaker did find his quiver full of images meant for the women before him. All spontaneous. Birthed in weeks of observation. Led of the Spirit. No notes required. Hallelujah!