No Little Women (CBE17)

"No Little Women"
Virginia Knowles

In the beauty of the Kingdom
There shall be no little women:
Shrinking
Shriveled
Silenced
Shamed
Subservient
Shadows
No, never!
Lo and behold
Sisters and brothers together
In mutual love and honor
Lift their lights high
Raise their voices strong and clear
Boldly proclaiming
Peace, joy, liberty, mercy
Healing, justice in Jesus
Together, strong and free
In the glory of the gospel of grace
No little women and no little men.
"May your Kingdom come
May your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven."

~~ I wrote and posted this poem from my phone while attending Mutual by Design, the 2017 international conference of Christians for Biblical Equality. I'll be writing more about the conference and some recommended resources this month as I have time.

~~ I'm obviously not talking about physical height here. I'm talking about the tendency of many in the church to see women as "less than" men - and oh, "bless their little hearts!" We all talk about equality, but then women are still treated with condescension.

~~ But speaking of physical height, here are two women from the conference. Julie Anne, on the right, is a watchdog blogger at www.spiritualsoundingboard.com. We've been in touch for several years about issues in the home schooling movement and patriarchal churches. I really appreciate the sacrificial work she does.  Diane, on the left, was a nun for about 20 years and then was ordained as a Catholic priest. I'm not sure how that works, but she says there are 250 women priests. Now in her 70's, she hosts a radio show aimed at preventing domestic violence. She may be only 5 feet tall, but she's a powerhouse. Julie Anne is 6' 4". Whatever their height, these two women get the job done.

~~ I picked the Statue of Liberty picture for the top of this post, because I believe that women are emerging as powerful leaders in the fight for liberty for the oppressed around the world. The women at this conference included ones who work in dangerous places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo doing rape prevention and aftercare, or who labor from and within the USA to end sex trafficking, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and other evils.

Equality.

Think about it.

Act on it.

Virginia Knowles