Living in the Spirit
September 18, 2018

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 31:10-31

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
   but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
   and let her works praise her in the city gates. –Proverbs 31:30-31

I tend to think of equality of the sexes as being a 19^th and 20th-century phenomena but then I read the scripture above written at least by the 3^rd century BCE and realize equality of the sexes has most likely been the desired standard since the beginning of time. Having been raised on a farm, I realized early on that there was enough work for everyone and it was prudent for labor to be divided practically. Thus, nursing mothers dedicated more time to care for infants, children of either sex fed chickens and milked cows, and the strongest family members, often male, baled and stacked hay.  My mother worked at a job outside the home when I was in high school and arrived home between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm so we negotiated my cooking dinner after I got home from school and she cleaned up while I finished my homework. Dad had a full day of pumping oil wells, working in the fields, and most of those ever-present chores. I still fed the chickens and gathered the eggs.

I now observe younger urban families dividing duties in much the same way as negotiating labor division and maybe even trading off various jobs that no one wants to do. The advent of breast pumps has even made feeding infants a shared endeavor.

Such equality is possible when driven by love, wanting the very best for another and all others. Making equality or equity work requires the investment of time, skills in mutual negotiations, and honest communication. Love fosters self-esteem which provides the foundation for such relationships in families, the workplace, faith communities, and the whole world. It works best when grounded in the sure and certain understanding that God loves each one of us as he or she is and as we all grow in spirit and in truth.

Equality that starts at home spills over into the public sector and becomes reflected in our cultural norms. We should not have to go to court to get the right to be the person God created us to be.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in creating a world where all are respected and treated justly. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.