The Theme of ‘Home’ in the Heart of a Man
While woman’s first order of being is to look inward toward her heart, man’s first order of being is to look outward toward the welfare of his family. I was reading a book recently, entitled Celebrating Our God-given Gender, wherein the author speaks of man’s need to do violence to his own nature, in order to thrive as the man who God designed him to be…
Cultivating Imagination through Family Structure
“I Must Provide for Myself”
The way the Lord created men and women to live is radically different from the current systems of the world. Because it is so radical, He does not call everyone to live in it, all at once, immediately eschewing the paths of the world. This would lead to overwhelm and collapse.
Rather, He desires to shift the world into a fuller and richer system, doing so gently, even as He guided the early Christians into the establishment of Christianity. That shift was both radical, and a natural process, with stages and steps.
Radical Femininity
Men are called by God to provide the necessities of life. By forming himself into the stability and backbone of the home, the man paradoxically earns himself freedom to live a life more free from labor. He finds himself free to participate in the polis of the larger community, because he has provided so well for his intimate community.
The woman, also, finds herself living a paradox. Because her husband has shown himself eager to provide for her, and grant stability, she finds herself free to labor. Her heart overflows with confidence and nurturing love, and everything to which she puts her hand prospers. Her activity increases, when he provides stability; and his interior life expands, when she proves herself worthy of holding his heart.
Home is the Heart of a Woman
Before I could meet the man who would become my husband, I believed I needed to extend myself into the working world, with my feminine genius, to make my mark, change lives, and earn an income. Then, once I had made those external victories, I would be formed enough to meet the man of my dreams, leave the public sphere, and have children. Then we could relax, take a deep breathe, and declare, “At last, we are home.”
Women Are Not Called to ‘Provide’
As I struggled with health issues, part-time jobs, and ever-increasing debt, I started to think, “Maybe I’m not smart enough, hard-working enough, or worthy enough to work. Maybe I will never be worthy of a husband providing for me.”
How Men Can Write About Only Men, but Women Write of Both
There are many, many books in existence with no female characters, or else merely a passing mention of a mother, or sister. It’s actually a little astonishing how many exist.
And I don’t mean astonishing from a politically correct point of view. It’s not my intention to make a war of the sexes out of this observation, but merely to poke into it, and see what I can turn up. I think it’s a fascinating question - why can so many books exist with only men, and none without them?
America - Where Are We Going?
I apologize, but the search engine can be a bit finicky. First try usually gets you a ‘no results’ message, but just push that enter button again, and what you’re looking for should pop up. Happy Reading!