Did you read Beth Felker Jones’s post from today? While not directly about this, I think it’s very connected. Because in all of this we seem to have forgotten that it is God, from whom all things flow, and so we make all these idols of gender (on both “sides”) instead of being able to exist with a variety of giftedness across men and women. It’s like the overruse of the word trauma. If everything is trauma, what do we call the things that are traumatic to distinguish them? So many arguments end up just being the inverse of whatever flawed idea they’re reacting to.
Course correction with a dose of reality check is a valuable thing. You sound like my thoughts over here at 53! I also think this a geographic phenom. Wash DC women don’t want the same things So Cal women seem to value.
In Christian circles, I wonder if some of this discontent/frustration in women comes from a combination of the messages we received growing up (especially Millennials) about doing “great things for God” and the seeming limitation of our options to missionary or pastor’s wife. I agree that one of the most beautiful things about our faith is that we don’t have to be special and are just called to ordinary faithfulness, but my goodness it’s quite the journey to get back to that truth if you grew up in a more fundamentalist flavor of evangelicalism.
Yes, self-actualization was always part of the problem. Before it was “for the kingdom”, now it has become purely for ourselves, and neither is the answer.
Did you read Beth Felker Jones’s post from today? While not directly about this, I think it’s very connected. Because in all of this we seem to have forgotten that it is God, from whom all things flow, and so we make all these idols of gender (on both “sides”) instead of being able to exist with a variety of giftedness across men and women. It’s like the overruse of the word trauma. If everything is trauma, what do we call the things that are traumatic to distinguish them? So many arguments end up just being the inverse of whatever flawed idea they’re reacting to.
An unexpected but very welcome rant.
I promise it’s out of my system and we’ll go back to regularly scheduled programming.
Course correction with a dose of reality check is a valuable thing. You sound like my thoughts over here at 53! I also think this a geographic phenom. Wash DC women don’t want the same things So Cal women seem to value.
In Christian circles, I wonder if some of this discontent/frustration in women comes from a combination of the messages we received growing up (especially Millennials) about doing “great things for God” and the seeming limitation of our options to missionary or pastor’s wife. I agree that one of the most beautiful things about our faith is that we don’t have to be special and are just called to ordinary faithfulness, but my goodness it’s quite the journey to get back to that truth if you grew up in a more fundamentalist flavor of evangelicalism.
Yes, self-actualization was always part of the problem. Before it was “for the kingdom”, now it has become purely for ourselves, and neither is the answer.