Older Women

Older women are not generally esteemed in Western culture. They are often ignored or discounted as insignificant in our society. Yet in many cultures they are considered wise and in their fullness of power.
We have many examples from history. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was considered too old to bear a child, yet God chose to make her the mother of a great nation. Naomi, a widow in a foreign land, found friendship and courage in her later years. Anna, another elderly widow, was able to prophesy about the divine nature of Mary’s baby. Teresa of Avila, 16th century reformer, started a whole new religious order in her old age. Mother Teresa of Calcutta engendered public acclaim for her work among the destitute as an older woman. Maya Angelou gave lectures and performed well into her 80’s. Eleanor Roosevelt was an delegate to the United Nations and a strong advocate for human rights long after being First Lady.  
In our culture, we tend to prize independence and individualism as signs of maturity. We think of someone able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” as the ideal American.Yet studies of women show a greater reliance on interdependence and relationships as qualities that give them life and hope as they age. Women are more interested in cooperation than competition. They tend to form alliances and groups to make a difference in their world. Perhaps we need to take another look at the wisdom of older women. 
Roosevelt and Fala, the Roosevelts' dog, in 1951 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB    
Read more
Image
    “Wonderfully Made” When I took a college English course, our first assignment was to write an essay about whether we would rather lose our sight or lose our legs. It was a thought-provoking choice. If we became blind, we would miss seeing our loved ones and all the beauty of our world. If we could not walk, we would be hindered from traveling and moving around without help. I chose to keep my eyesight since I love to read and write and enjoy the variety and beauty that surrounds us.   Of course, I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice in real life, but it was a thought-provoking assignment. It made me think about how much we take our bodies for granted. I began to think about all the organs, veins, arteries, canals, nerves, and bones we have in our bodies and how they all work together to keep us alive and healthy. It is not until we lose one of them that we realize how magnificent we are, created in the “image and likeness of God.” God loves each and every one of us as if
Read more
Image
  Overcoming Discouragement Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture.  I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.”  It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feel
Read more