Lord, Deliver us from virtuous women!
I could be accused of writing provocative titles on these blogs. I wish my novel titles had more salacious titles; maybe I would sell more. Rape and Its Aftermath would be a good title for them.
My computer has an adware thing that is driving me crazy. I will go get it fixed tomorrow. I am writing a play, a parlor mystery. It is a different kind of writing for me. All dialogue, same setting. It is a bit derivative, borrowing from The Philadelphia Story, Keeping Up Appearances, and Agatha Christie. It is also a comedy, which means the murder victim is a bad guy. Some might say it is in bad taste.
Anyway, back to my title. Fortunately, our pastor did not preach on Proverbs 31 on Sunday. I am sure his wife would have disabused him of that if it had been his plan. He gave a much better sermon based on post-resurrection appearances of Christ. However, the Sunday School (we call them life groups now) was on Proverbs 31. What a cliche.
If anybody thinks the Proverbs 31 woman is real, think again. She is an ideal. This is poetry, wisdom literature. Remember, Proverbs talks about the woman wisdom crying in the street--not meant to be literal. But . . . a woman of virtue does have certain key characteristics. She is a good steward of resources (not a shopaholic), socially concerned and charitable, emotionally supportive of her family and husband, in awe of God, biblically literate, and has a strong work ethic. We can be virtuous women and still get a good night's sleep, which, if we take Proverbs 31 literally, this woman does not.
Women do not need to be browbeat with their inadequacies. They need to get off of focusing on their inadequacies in the first place, and rest in God's grace. True, there are lots of lazy women. I know a few, but I know a whole lot more who are overworked and not allowed to be, just do.
My computer has an adware thing that is driving me crazy. I will go get it fixed tomorrow. I am writing a play, a parlor mystery. It is a different kind of writing for me. All dialogue, same setting. It is a bit derivative, borrowing from The Philadelphia Story, Keeping Up Appearances, and Agatha Christie. It is also a comedy, which means the murder victim is a bad guy. Some might say it is in bad taste.
Anyway, back to my title. Fortunately, our pastor did not preach on Proverbs 31 on Sunday. I am sure his wife would have disabused him of that if it had been his plan. He gave a much better sermon based on post-resurrection appearances of Christ. However, the Sunday School (we call them life groups now) was on Proverbs 31. What a cliche.
If anybody thinks the Proverbs 31 woman is real, think again. She is an ideal. This is poetry, wisdom literature. Remember, Proverbs talks about the woman wisdom crying in the street--not meant to be literal. But . . . a woman of virtue does have certain key characteristics. She is a good steward of resources (not a shopaholic), socially concerned and charitable, emotionally supportive of her family and husband, in awe of God, biblically literate, and has a strong work ethic. We can be virtuous women and still get a good night's sleep, which, if we take Proverbs 31 literally, this woman does not.
Women do not need to be browbeat with their inadequacies. They need to get off of focusing on their inadequacies in the first place, and rest in God's grace. True, there are lots of lazy women. I know a few, but I know a whole lot more who are overworked and not allowed to be, just do.
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