The Best a Woman Can Be

Some months ago, I read a book titled Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Custis James. The part of the book that first caught my eye was this:

God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper [ezer] suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). The meaning of ezer, however, was diminished when translators rendered it “helpmeet” and restricted it to marriage. A woman’s mission centered on home and family — vital spheres of ministry to be sure, but only a slice of the vast mission God originally cast by calling women to rule and subdue the earth.
Thinking regarding the ezer began to change when scholars pointed out that the word ezer is used most often (sixteen of twenty-one occurrences) in the Old Testament to refer to God5 as Israel’s helper in times of trouble. That’s when ezer was upgraded to “strong helper,” leaving Christians debating among themselves over the meaning of “strong”...

You can read an excerpt here.

That paragraph alone set off little explosions of joy in me. It confirmed what I had so often seen in women: for all their liberation, they don't know their own strength. They don't know what makes them beautiful. They haven't yet found the best they can be.

Then, recently, I saw an amazing film titled Pray the Devil Back to Hell, about the women of Liberia who led their country out of a civil war by force of their very nature. They didn't play by the rules already in place in their country, because those rules had gotten them where they were. These women were ezers. They did things their own way. You must watch this. It is beautiful. Here's the preview:

This is Embarrassing...

It seems for over a year I've been ever mindful... someplace else. Certainly on my other blog, Novel Matters. At my desk - learning new ways of winning bread. Fighting with one novel idea till I had to admit defeat - for now - and starting another one in its place. Marrying off a son and gaining a beautiful daughter in law. Welcoming a new grandchild by my step-son and his beautiful wife. Just not blogging here.

I've thought from time to time of pulling Ever Mindful off the web so it wouldn't remain a "to do" that I didn't.

But that's not what I want. I think of the purpose I set for this blog, to be a place to share thoughts about how one lives well in times of stress, and I realize I still have lots of thoughts about that, lots of books I'm reading, films I'm seeing, people I'm talking to, and lots of questions to ask you.

So I'm back. Blowing the dust off my "Keep Calm" poster, sharpening the pencils. If you've never been here before, I hope you'll look around. It's going to remain a pretty casual place. I won't promise a set schedule, and I might not edit over much. But I do intend to post here more often.

Like next week. Because I read something surprising recently about what the Book of Genesis really has to say about women. And last night I saw a film that shows women being exactly the sorts of... women, strong, beautiful, powerful women the book describes. The whole thing impresses me out of my socks.

But that deserves a post all its own that doesn't begin with me blowing dust.

So I'll see you soon.