As one not endowed by the Holy Spirit with the ability make jaw-dropping floral arrangements, or linens, or vestments I suppose I should just sit down and be quiet. Which actually is my preferred way of being inside sacred space, to be honest.
But I cannot countenance this reframing of "feminine genius" as "good with crafts." This is certainly not what Pope John Paul II meant with the term in his Letter to Women nor in Mulieris Dignitatem. He was focussed on service - women are to serve. (So why not women altar servers? How much do are you willing to bet the persons setting and clearing the table at the Last Supper were women?) Women, he suggested, are moral forces. And women love unreservedly.
What does moral force have to do with embroidery or flower arrangements?
I will confess, I'm not at all sure what "feminine genius" really means. Should not men be moral forces? Serve? Love unreservedly? I've looked at the documents and I still honestly cannot reconcile a God who created women able to do quantum physics or theology with a God who would say, "but don't do that.."
But all of this is just dross in the face of the Gospel, which calls us to a jaw-dropping radical acknowledgement of each other's human dignity. We are told that we are to feed the hungry, see that those who are thirsty have water to drink, to welcome the stranger (with no mention of checking their immigration status), to care for the sick.
We come to the Eucharist to learn how to recognize and tend to the Holy in each other, to celebrate the care that we have been given in God's name, to be filled so that we might spill over. It is absolutely the summit of our life of faith, it is equally its font. To paraphrase St. John Chrysostom: "If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice." Or in a floral arrangement.
So I do like crafts and share hand-stitched bookmarks, as well as home-baked goods, with the children in my Religious Ed class. I also lead prayer, lector, and serve as a Eucharistic minister. God has given every single person gifts and talents to be shared. As a result, I try to discern with prayer what I have been given that is to be shared and not worry about what anyone else thinks or says. Many thanks to you for sharing your stories from the heart. You have "students" rippling around about which you have no idea......
ReplyDeleteI think that prayerful discernment is so important -- and despite my lack of flower arranging ability, those skills bring beauty and joy as well. I'm reminded of a long ago and now deceased spiritual director - an Augustinian priest - who embroidered many of the altar linens my parish still uses. I pray in gratitude for his "genius" gifts every time I lay them on the altar.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post! If someone questions why women could be lectors or servers or Eucharistic ministers, imagine what they say about women being quantum chemists, quantum physicists, and quantum theologians! I'm going to think about which of my talents are truly "jaw-dropping"!
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